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Country’s overall imports marked more than 9.0 per cent growth or US$2.07 billion rise in the first-half (H1) of the current fiscal year (FY 18).
Officials apprised this to higher import of food grains and fuel oils.
Actual import, they said, in terms of settlement of letters of credit (LCs) rose to $24.66 billion during the July-December period of FY 2017-18 up from $22.59 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
According to the central bank’s latest statistics, opening of LCs, generally known as import orders, increased by nearly 75 per cent or $17.21 billion to $ 40.23 billion in the first six months of FY 18 from $23.02 billion only a year ago.
“Higher imports of food grains along with petroleum products have pushed up the country’s overall imports during the period under review,” a senior official of Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE on Sunday.
The upward trend of overall imports may continue in the coming months, the central banker hinted.