Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s overall imports grew by 11.59 percent in the first half (H1) of the current fiscal year (FY), 2013-`14, despite political uncertainty, officials said.
The actual import in terms of settlement of letters of credit (LCs) increased by 11.59 per cent to US$ 17.80 billion during the July-December period of FY `14 from $15.95 billion in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal, according to central bank statistics, released on Tuesday.
On the other hand, opening of LCs, generally known as import orders, rose by 10.30 per cent to $18.81 billion in the first six months of FY `14 from $17.05 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
“The overall imports increased in the H1 of FY `14 mainly due to higher import of food grains, particularly rice and wheat, besides capital machinery and industrial raw materials,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
He also said the overall imports had been badly affected since October last year following frequent spells of blockade and shutdown, enforced by the opposition parties over the formation of a poll-time government.
“The rising trend of imports may continue in the next months as political stability started coming back in the country after holding of the parliamentary elections on January 5 last,” the BB official noted.
The actual import of food grains jumped by more than 100 per cent to $675.73 million during the July-December period of FY `14 from $337.08 million in the same period of the last fiscal year, the BB data showed.
Import of capital machinery or industrial equipment used for production has increased significantly during the period under review despite the political turmoil.
The import of capital machinery has increased by 16.60 per cent to $1.14 billion in the first six months of FY `14 from $981.30 million in the corresponding period of FY `13.
Import of intermediate goods, like coal, hard coke, clinker and scrap vessels increased by 3.31 per cent to $1.45 billion in H1 of FY `14 from $1.40 billion in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal year.
Industrial raw materials’ import rose by 11.61 per cent to $7.17 billion during the period under review from $6.42 billion in the same period of FY `13.
During the period, the import of machinery for miscellaneous industries witnessed a 20.53 per cent growth to $1.75 billion compared to that of $1.45 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
However, import of petroleum products dropped by more than 16 per cent to $1.91 billion in the first six months of FY `14 from $2.27 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
“The import of petroleum products may increase in the coming months because of seasonal effect,” the central banker explained.
BBN/SSR/AD-04Feb14-9:12 pm (BST)
