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Bangladesh's overall imports grew by nearly 10 per cent in the first seven months of this fiscal year (FY), 2018-19, following higher imports of intermediate goods and fuel oils, officials said.
The actual import in terms of settlement of letters of credit (LCs) rose to US$32.60 billion during the July-January period of FY'19 from $29.65 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank's latest data.
Talking to the FE, a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) predicted that the upward trend in import might continue in the coming months ahead of the holy Ramadan.
Opening of LCs for importing different consumer items are expected to rise from this month to meet the growing demand for the items during the holy Ramadan, he explained.
Usually, a large quantity of essential commodities is imported to meet the additional demand of consumers during the month of Ramadan.
Echoing the BB's official, Syed Mahbubur Rahman, chairman of the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB), said the overall import may increase slightly in the coming months mainly due to the Ramadan.
Mr. Rahman, also managing director and chief executive officer of Dhaka Bank Limited said import of capital machinery may increase in the near future following implementation of different mega infrastructure projects across the country.
Currently, the government is implementing ten priority projects under the supervision of a Fast-Track Project Monitoring Committee, headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, for ensuring their quick implementation.
The senior banker also urged the authorities concerned to strengthen monitoring and supervision for curbing the import of 'unnecessary' luxurious items for keeping the country's overall of balance of payments (BoP) situation stable.
However, import of intermediate goods such as coal, hard coke, clinker and scrap vessels etc, surged by 42.51 per cent to $3.30 billion during the period under review from $2.32 billion in the same period of FY '18.
"Actually, construction materials, imported as intermediate goods, pushed up the overall import payments in the first seven months of FY'19," another BB official told the FE.
Different mega infrastructure projects, including Padma Bridge and metro-rail, consumed the lion share of intermediate goods, according to the central banker.
Besides, higher import of fuel oils also pushed up the overall import expenses during the period under review, he added.
Import of petroleum products rose by 48.43 per cent to $2.43 billion in the first seven months of FY'19 from $1.64 billion in the same period of the FY'18.
The central banker also said the ongoing upward trend in fuel oil import may continue in the coming months following diversified use of the gasoline products, particularly for power generation.
Meanwhile, the import of capital machinery or industrial equipment used for production, dropped by 6.28 per cent to $2.90 billion during the July-January period of FY'19 from $3.09 billion, the BB data showed.
Industrial raw material import also rose by 12.36 per cent to $11.59 billion during the period under review from $10.31 billion in the same period of FY '18.
On the other hand, import of food grains, particularly rice and wheat, dropped by $58.52 per cent to $815.22 million from $1.96 billion.
However, import of consumer goods also slumped by 32.68 per cent to $3.16 billion during the period under review from $4.70 billion in the same period of FY '18, the BB data showed.
Meanwhile, opening of LCs, generally known as import orders, dropped by more than 22 per cent to $35.44 billion during the period under review from $45.67 billion in the same period of FY '18.
The period of FY '18 seen higher import orders due to LCs for some mega projects including Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), the BB officials said.
The country's overall import orders recorded an all-time high of $16.10 billion in November 2017 while LC of a large amount was opened for setting up Rooppur NPP.
Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) opened the LC worth $11.38 billion through the state-owned Sonali Bank Limited to import different items, including capital machinery, to build the plant.