Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – Bangladesh’s overall imports fell slightly in August this year from the level of the previous month of the current calendar year, officials said.
The settlement of letters of credit (LCs), generally known as actual imports, dropped by nearly 8.0 per cent during the period under review from that of July, 2011 while opening of LCs against imports, generally known as import orders, increased by 5.33 per cent.
“A large quantity of essential commodities including edible oil, sugar and food grains was imported during June-July period of this year, targeting the holy Ramadan and the Eid-ul-Fitr festival. As a result, the imports declined slightly in August last” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
The import LCs worth $2.920 billion were opened in August compared to $2.772 billion in July this year while LCs for imports worth $2.427 billion were settled in August 2011 against $2.637 billion in the previous month, according to the central bank statistics.
BBN/SSR/AD-25Sept11-9:48 pm (BST)
