File photo: ADB
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s imports jumped by nearly 16 per cent in July mainly due to higher import of fuel oil that also use for power generation, officials said.
The settlement of letters of credit (LCs), generally known as actual import, in terms of value, rose to $4.69 billion in July, the first month of the FY 2018-19, from $ 4.05 billion in the same period of the FY 18, according to the central bank’s latest statistics.
Talking to the BBN, a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said the overall imports increased significantly during the period under review due to higher imports of petroleum products.
Import of petroleum products soared by 274.27 per cent to $492.96 million in July of the FY 19 from $131.71 million in the same period of the previous fiscal, the BB data showed.
The central banker also said the existing upward trend of petroleum products import may continue in the coming months to meet the extra demand for the items for oil-based power plants.
The use of fuel oil has increased gradually as the number of oil-fired power plants raised in recent months to meet the growing demand for the electricity across the country.
The government had allowed installation of 10 oil-fired power plants under 'fast-track' programme to generate 1,768 megawatt (MW) electricity.
On the other hand, import of capital machinery—industrial equipment used for production —was down by 16.36 per cent to $408.68 million during the period under review as against $488.65 million a year ago.
“Possible political uncertainty centering the next general election may push down fresh import of capital machinery,” a senior executive of a leading private commercial bank (PCB) said.
He also said most of the entrepreneurs normally follow a ‘wait-and-see’ policy for setting up new industry ahead of the national election for avoiding financial risk.
However, import of intermediate goods like coal, hard coke, clinker and scrap vessels increased by nearly 21 per cent to $361.41 million in the first month of this fiscal from $299.08 million in the same period of the FY 18.
Import of industrial raw materials grew by nearly 11 per cent to $1.67 billion during the period under review from $1.51 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
During the period, import of machinery for miscellaneous industries witnessed a 14.29 per cent growth to $499.23 million from $436.82 million in the same period of the FY 18.
Food grain imports, particularly of rice and wheat, increased by 21.50 per cent to $156.37 million in July from $128.71 million in the same period of the previous fiscal.
Import of consumer goods fell by 2.54 per cent to $515.48 million in the first month of FY 19 from $528.93 million in the same period of the FY 18.
BBN/SSR/AD