Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – Bangladesh’s overall import orders increased by more than 16 per cent in November last compared to the corresponding period of the previous calendar year, officials said.
Opening of fresh letters of credit (LCs), generally known as import orders, increased by 16.11 per cent to US$3.31 billion in November last from $2.85 billion in the same period of 2013, according to the central bank statistics, released Monday.
The import orders, however, rose by 5.23 per cent to US$3.31 billion in November 2014 from $3.14 billion of the previous month in the same calendar year, thanks to hefty growth of capital machinery, they added.
“The existing upward trend of import may continue in the coming months if the political stability continues,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
He also said higher import for power and energy, textile machinery and steel and engineering industries raised the overall capital machinery imports during the period under review.
Import orders of capital machinery or industrial equipment used for productions rose by 156.78 per cent to $462.83 million in November last from $180.78 million of the previous month.
The import orders for rice increased by 13.43 per cent to $59.81 million in November 2014 from $52.73 million a month earlier.
“Rice import orders have increased recently because of lower price in the global market,” the central banker explained.
He also said the import value of per tonne rice, on an average, is now $362 in the international market against nearly $400 a year ago.
The central banker also said import orders of some essentials including petroleum products, edible oil, raw cotton, and onion increased during the period under review.
The import orders for fuel oils rose by 25.63 per cent to $341.92 million in November last from $272.16 in October 2014.
“The import of petroleum products may rise in the coming months because of seasonal effect,” another BB official said.
On the other hand, the settlement of LCs, generally known as actual import, decreased by 3.75 per cent to $3.03 billion in November last from $3.14 billion a month ago.
However, the actual import was up by 5.87 per cent to $3.03 billion in November last from $2.86 billion in the corresponding period of the previous calendar year, the BB data showed.
BBN/SSR/AD-30Dec14-10:44 am (BST)