Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– Bangladesh’s overall import orders dropped significantly in October over the previous month of this calendar year, thanks to a fall in the food grains imports, officials said.
“The overall import orders fell during the period due mainly to drop in the food grains import significantly,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka on Monday.
Opening of fresh letters of credit (LCs) against imports, generally known as import orders, fell by 22.55 per cent in October over that of the previous month of the current calendar year, according to the central bank statistics.
The settlement of LCs, generally known as actual imports, also declined by nearly 4.0 per cent during the period over the previous month of this year, the central bank officials added.
LCs worth $2.76 billion were opened in October compared to $3.56 billion in September this year while the LCs against imports worth $2.93 billion were settled in October 2011 against $3.05 billion in September last, the BB’s data showed.
The BB official also said the country has built enough stock for the main staple rice after a bumper Boro crops in May last.
On the other hand, the import orders for fuel oils increased by nearly 27 percent to $493.52 million in the month of October last from $389.07 million in the previous month while the LCs against imports worth $499.51 million were settled in October 2011 against $365.88 million in September last.
The central banker said the rising trend in fuel oils import may continue in the coming months to meet the growing demand for oil-based power plants across the country.
He also said opening of LCs for capital machinery import increased by over 67 per cent to $146 million in October compared to $87 million of the previous month.
BBN/SSR/AD-14Nov11-9:25 pm (BST)
