কমছে আমদানি বাড়ছে রিজার্ভ
ডলার সংকট কাটাতে দেশের আমদানিতে লাগাম টানায় উদ্যোগী হয় বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংক। এজন্য নতুন ঋণপত্র (এলসি) খোলায় কড়াকড়িও আরোপ করা হয়। চলতি অর্থবছরের শুরুতে এলসি খোলায় কঠোর হওয়ার পর থেকে কমতে শুরু করেছে পণ্য আমদানি। আর এতে করে চলতি অর্থবছরের প্রথম পাঁচ মাসে এলসি খোলার হার কমেছে ১৬ দশমিক...
Imports are decreasing and reserves are increasing
Ahmed Tofail
Published: 10 December 2022, 03:00
কমছে আমদানি বাড়ছে রিজার্ভ
ডলার সংকট কাটাতে দেশের আমদানিতে লাগাম টানায় উদ্যোগী হয় বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংক। এজন্য নতুন ঋণপত্র (এলসি) খোলায় কড়াকড়িও আরোপ করা হয়। চলতি অর্থবছরের শুরুতে এলসি খোলায় কঠোর হওয়ার পর থেকে কমতে শুরু করেছে পণ্য আমদানি। আর এতে করে চলতি অর্থবছরের প্রথম পাঁচ মাসে এলসি খোলার হার কমেছে ১৬ দশমিক...
Bangladesh Bank took initiatives to curb the import of the country to overcome the dollar crisis. For this reason strictures are also imposed on opening of new letters of credit (LC). Since the opening of LCs became stricter at the beginning of this financial year, the import of goods has started to decline. And by this, the LC opening rate has decreased by 16.10 percent in the first five months of the current FY.
According to stakeholders, LC opening has decreased due to increase in duty on import of some products, removal of LC margin and high value of dollar. Those concerned think that the trend of decreasing imports will continue for some more time. The pressure on foreign exchange reserves is somewhat reduced as imports decrease.
When asked to know, Ahsan H. Mansoor, Executive Director of Policy Research Institute (PRI), an economic researcher, told Ittefaq that imports will decrease further due to the dollar crisis. A decrease in imports has both good and bad effects on the economy. Imports are decreasing but should not decrease much. Still foreign currency is widely shot. Imports do not seem to be able to increase much. Imports of capital equipment have been affected. If there is no industry, if there is no employment, it has a negative impact on the economy. And people may not be able to buy what they want. It also includes daily essentials. The prices of these are very high in the world market, but due to the dollar crisis, they cannot be imported as required.
According to the latest data of Bangladesh Bank, in the first five months (July-November) of the current fiscal year, traders have opened LCs worth 2,828 million dollars for imports, which is 16.10 percent less than the same period of the last fiscal year. During the same period of the financial year 2021-22, the amount of LC opening was 3 thousand 371 crores.
Meanwhile, reduced imports of goods reduce the pressure on foreign exchange or reserves. Last November 30, the reserves fell below 34 billion dollars and stood at 33.86 billion dollars. In the last few days, it has increased again and stands above 34 billion dollars. At the end of the day on Thursday, the amount of reserves was 34.02 billion dollars.
Bangladesh Bank imposed stricter restrictions on imports last July 5. From now on importers will not get any loan facility from banks for importing all types of motorcars, electrical and electronic materials used as home appliances, cosmetics, gold ornaments, ready-made clothes, household electronics or home appliances, beverages. 100% cash margin has to be maintained in opening import credit for these products, which was 75% earlier.
To reduce the pressure on the reserves, the government chose the path of austerity. Government officials, as well as heads of state-owned banks and financial institutions and specialized institutions, have been banned from traveling abroad unless absolutely necessary. Implementation of less important import-dependent projects has been put on hold for the time being.
However, Bangladesh Bank sees the opening of new LCs for imports as a major success. Central bank officials say there was no alternative to reducing imports to restore balance in foreign trade. Due to this, various conditions were included in the new LC of import. Banks have also refrained from opening unnecessary new LCs due to the dollar crisis. All in all, the central bank is satisfied with the success achieved so far in import control. If this continuation of imports continues, the dollar crisis will decrease from the beginning of next year.
According to the statistics of Bangladesh Bank, the opening of LCs in July, the first month of the current financial year 2022-23, was 6.39 billion dollars. LCs of $6.62 billion and $6.51 billion were opened in August and September respectively. It fell sharply to $4.74 billion in October. It further declined to $4.02 billion in November.
The first step to reduce imports was taken on April 17. On that day, through a circular, the Central Bank directed the banks to maintain a minimum 25 percent cash margin rate for Letter of Credit (LC) against imports of all commodities other than imports of baby food, essential food products including fuel, life-saving medicines, local and export-oriented industries and agricultural sector products. Then on May 10, the central bank issued another circular imposing more strictures to reduce the import of luxury goods.
A review of the Central Bank's data shows that the biggest decline in LC opening in the current financial year is the import of capital equipment and industrial machinery. Among them, the import of capital machinery from other industries including textile, leather, ready-made garments, and pharmaceutical industry has decreased by about 66 percent. And the LC opening rate of import of various types of industrial machinery including computers, cars and car parts, electric and electronic products, and power tillers has decreased by 28.54 percent. LC openings for the import of industrial raw materials and intermediate goods also fell by over 14 percent.
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