Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– The ongoing pressure on the country’s foreign exchange market is likely to intensify this month as the export earnings may fall further in October.

Bangladesh’s off-docks handled a lower number of outbound containers in October. This indicates that the export earnings might have missed the target set for the month.

The Chattogram-based 18 inland container depots (ICDs) handled nearly 42,000 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) of export containers last month, compared to 45,640 TEUs in the same month last year, according to report.

Official statistics show that after attaining an 8.55 per cent gain in this July, compared to the same month of last FY, export earnings fell by 11.49 per cent in August and 7.3 per cent in September.

In the July-September quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal, export earnings were 3.0 per cent lower over the corresponding period of FY ’19.

On the other hand, import payment obligations for petroleum products, LNG and international oil companies along with others essentials will be continued in November.

The steady trend on inward remittance is expected to continue on October. Meanwhile, net open position (NOP) on all banks fell to below US$600 million on Thursday from $720 million of the previous level.

Higher import payment obligations pushed down the overall NOP in the recent days. It was $1.21 billion on August 27.

BBN/SSR/AD