The country's overall import increased significantly in September over the previous month mainly due to higher import of food gains particularly rice and wheat, officials said Sunday.
"Import of different essential products including capital machinery and back-to-back imports for readymade garment (RMG) sector have also picked up during the period under review," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE.
The settlement of letters of credit (LCs), generally known as actual imports, rose by nearly 20 per cent to around US$ 3.0 billion in September 2013 from $ 2.50 billion in August last, according to the central bank statistics.
On the other hand, opening of LCs against imports, generally known as import orders, increased by nearly 14 per cent to $ 3.12 billion in September last from $ 2.74 billion of the previous month.
The central banker said the overall import may decrease in the month of October following a series of holidays on the occasion of the Durga Puja and Eid-ul-Azha festivals.
"The importers may follow a 'go-slow' policy in the coming days mainly due to the political turmoil centring the next general election," he explained.
The actual import of rice increased by nearly 11 per cent to $ 23.75 million in September 2013 from $ 21.40 million in the previous month while wheat import jumped by 107.29 per cent to $ 173.38 million from $ 83.64 million.
The import of capital machinery rose to $ 147.02 million in the month of September from $ 102.54 million in the previous month.
The BB data shows that the back-to-back imports for RMG products including fabrics and accessories increased by nearly 16 per cent to $ 555.65 million in September last from $ 479.34 million of the previous month.
"The imports for apparel and clothing sector have increased mainly due to the rising trend of export of the woven garment and knitwear products," a senior official of a leading private commercial bank told the FE.
The country's RMG exports grew by more than 24 per cent in the first quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal year (FY 2013-14) despite of labour unrest, political turmoil and deadly industrial accidents.
RMG exports rose to $ 6.20 billion in the July-September period of the FY '14 from $ 4.99 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.
The export of woven garments grew by 23.89 per cent to $ 3.04 billion during the period under review from $ 2.46 billion in the same period of the FY '13, while knitwear export grew by 24.43 per cent to $ 3.16 billion from $ 2.54 billion, according to statistics from the state-run Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
The private banker also said the country's overall import may fall in the coming months if the political turmoil continues.
Source:- thefinancialexpress-bd.com
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