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Bangladesh’s merchandise trade gap with the rest of the world registered around 9.90 per cent growth in the first eight months of the current fiscal year (FY21) over the same period of FY20.
Bangladesh Bank statistics showed that the trade deficit crossed the $11 billion level and stood at $11.80 billion in the July-February period of the current fiscal year.
The trade deficit was $10.78 billion in the same period of the past fiscal year.
It also showed that a slight decline in exports coupled with a modest increase in imports enhanced the trade gap.
The gap in services trade, however, dropped to $1.70 billion from $2.18 billion during the period under review.
Nevertheless, the current account balance recorded a surplus of $1.55 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year against a deficit of $2.10 billion in the July-February period of FY20.
Robust growth in remittance helped to maintain a surplus in the current account balance.
Again, inflow of medium and long-term loans posted 8.74 per cent growth in the period under review coupled with a big increase in trade credit pushed the balance of the financial account to a big surplus of $5.61 billion.
As a result, overall balance of payments recorded a significant surplus of $6.88 billion in the July-February period of the current fiscal year.