Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – Bangladesh’s overall imports fell by nearly 20 percent in December 2011 from the level of the previous month, as a declining trend in import prevailed since October last, officials said.
“We expect that the declining trend in import may continue in the coming months also,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said, adding that the settlement of letters of credit (LCs), generally known as actual imports, dropped by 19.63 percent in December last over that of the previous month, following the decline in import orders in two consecutive months.
He also said the country’s overall import orders dropped further during the period under review mainly due to lower import of food grains.
The opening of fresh LCs against imports, generally known as import orders, fell by 0.10 per cent in December from the level, in value terms, of that of the previous month, according to the central bank statistics.
The fall was earlier recorded at 10.31 per cent and 22.55 per cent in November and October respectively, the BB officials added.
LCs against imports worth $2.484 billion were settled in December against $3.091 billion in November. Besides, LCs worth $2.471 billion were opened in December 2011 compared to $2.473 billion in November, the BB data showed.
“Both import orders and settlement for petroleum products dropped significantly in December over those in November, mainly due to the seasonal effect,” another BB official said, adding that it has also contributed to cut the country’s overall imports.
The import orders for petroleum products dropped by 17.23 per cent to $330 million in December 2011 from $399 million in November. Besides, LCs against imports worth $213.85 million were settled in December 2011, against $520.58 million in November.
Bankers, however, said the existing declining trend in the overall imports may continue in the near future, mainly due to increased margin requirements by the commercial banks for opening LCs.
“Short supply of the US currency in the market is also discouraging the banks to open fresh LCs,” a senior official of a foreign commercial bank told BBN in Dhaka.
He also said the local currency has been under pressure, leading to its depreciation recently against the US dollar, following higher demand for the greenback for settlement of the outstanding import LCs.
BBN/SSR/AD-13Jan12-12:47 pm (BST)
