Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s overall imports grew by 29.01 per cent during the first two months of the current fiscal against the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, officials said.
The letters of credit (LCs) against imports worth $3.765 billion were settled during July-August period of fiscal 2008-09 compared with $2.918 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank provisional statistics, released recently.
Import of essentials items including rice, wheat, edible oil and pulses fell slightly in terms of quantity during the period under review against the same period of the previous fiscal, they added.
“Most of the importers, who are mainly importing essential items, are now maintaining go-slow strategy because of falling trend in prices of the essentials in the international market,” a senior official of a private commercial bank (PCB) told BBN in Dhaka.
On the other hand, the import of sugar and onion went up slightly during the period against that of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The overall trend of opening of fresh LCs against imports increased by 15.37 per cent during the period against the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the officials added.
The import LCs worth $ 4.141 billion was opened during the period as against $3.590 billion of the same period of last fiscal, the BB’s data showed.
BBN/SI/SI/AD-14September08-4:01 PM
