Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s overall imports grew by more than 10 per cent in the first half (H1) of the current fiscal year (FY), 2014-15, thanks to a jump by 28.54 per cent in import of capital machinery, officials said.
The actual import in terms of settlement of letters of credit (LCs) grew by 10.08 per cent to US$19.59 billion during the July-December period of FY 15 from $17.80 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics.
On the other hand, opening of LCs, generally known as import orders, rose by 13.16 per cent to $21.28 billion in the first six months of FY 15 from $18.81 billion in the same period of FY 14.
“The country’s overall imports may fall in the month of January due to political turmoil,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
The overall imports decreased slightly in December last as there was a panic of political chaos, the central banker explained.
The import of capital machinery or industrial equipment used for productions rose by 28.54 per cent to $1.47 billion during the first six months of this fiscal against $1.14 billion of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Talking to BBN, another BB official said higher import for sectors including power and energy, leather and tannery, electronic, food processing, ship building, ceramic and melamine have contributed to raise the overall capital machinery import during the period under review.
However, the food-grain import, particularly of rice and wheat, increased by 0.65 per cent to $680.11 million during the July-December period of FY 15 from $675.73 million in the same period of the previous fiscal.
Fuel oils import increased by 7.03 per cent to $2.04 billion during the H1 of FY 15 against $1.91 billion of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
“The lower prices of petroleum products in the global market have contributed to decrease the import payments pressures during the period under review,” the central banker noted.
The import of intermediate goods, like – coal, hard coke, clinker and scrap vessels, increased by 8.81 per cent to $1.57 billion in the first six months of the current FY 15 from $1.45 billion in the same period of the FY 14.
On the other hand, the import of industrial raw materials rose by 6.34 per cent to $7.63 billion during the period under review from $7.17 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
During the period, the import of machinery for miscellaneous industries witnessed a 13.91 per cent growth to $1.99 billion from $1.75 billion in the corresponding period of FY 14.
BBN/SSR/AD-02Feb15-10:09 am (BST)
