Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s overall trade deficit widened by 54.18 per cent in the first ten months of the current fiscal (FY), 2014-15, due to higher import payments and lower export receipts, officials said.
The deficit rose to $8.49 billion during the July-April period of FY 15 from $5.51 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the Bangladesh Bank (BB)’s latest statistics, released on Tuesday.
“The overall trade deficit increased significantly during the period under review because of higher import payment pleasures than export earnings,” a BB senior told BBN in Dhaka.
He also said such deficit may widen further in the coming months mainly due to higher import payment pressure ahead of the holy Ramadan.
The imports grew by 12.19 per cent to $33.46 billion during the first ten months of this fiscal, from $29.82 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
On the other hand, the country’s export earnings grew only by 2.98 per cent to $20.57 billion during the July-April period of FY 15, against $19.97 billion in the corresponding period, the BB data showed.
Besides, trade in goods, deficit in trade in services increased during the period under review. Gap in services trade stood at $3.88 billion during the period under review, which was $3.21 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal. Trade in services includes tourism, financial service and insurance.
The country has earned $2.57 billion in services trade during the first ten months of the current fiscal, while payment on services surged to $6.45 billion during the period, from $5.79 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
“Such higher trade deficit pushed down the current-account balance significantly, despite uptrend in inward remittances,” the central banker noted.
Bangladesh received $12.43 billion during the July-April period of FY 15, registering a 6.86 per cent growth over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The country’s current-account balance entered the negative territory in last September due to higher landed imports, recorded by the customs department, the BB official added.
However, the current-account deficit came down to $1.64 billion in the July-April period of FY 15 from $1.10 billion a year ago.
It was $1.54 billion surplus during the July-April period of the previous fiscal, the BB data showed.
The overall balance of payments (BoP) came down to $3.29 billion during the period under review, from $4.30 billion in the corresponding period of FY 14.
BBN/SSR/AD