Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s overall trade deficit narrowed by 27.99 percent in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY) 2012-13 due mainly to lower import payments and steady growth in exports, officials said.
"The overall trade deficit may narrow down further in the months to come, if the growth in imports keeps decelerating,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said.
The overall trade deficit came down to US$ 4.86 billion in the July-March period of the FY `13 from $ 6.75 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal, according to the central bank statistics.
The overall imports as judged from settlement of letters of credit (LCs) witnessed a negative growth by 10.40 percent during the period under review against 14.60 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
“The actual imports—essential commodities as well as capital machinery—dropped recently against the backdrop of political turmoil in the country ahead of the next general election,” the BB official said.
The country’s overall imports came down to $ 24.22 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal from $ 24.43 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Export earnings rose to $ 19.36 billion from $17.69 billion during the period, the BB data showed.
“Declining trend of trade deficit and higher growth in inward remittances helped achieve the healthy current account balance during the period under review,” the central banker explained.
The country's current account balance rose to $2.82 billion in the first nine months of the FY `13 from the deficit of $ 120 million in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The flow of inward remittances grew by 16.66 percent to $ 11.02 billion during the period under review from $ 9.45 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
However, the overall balance of payments (BoP) rose to $ 3.95 billion during the period from the deficit of $ 419 million in the corresponding period of the FY ‘12.
BBN/SSR/AD-28May13-9:20 pm (BST)
