Bangladesh’s imports have hit a record in the 2017-18 fiscal surpassing the annual budget for the year.
According to the latest data from Bangladesh Bank, imports stood at $58.86 billion (nearly Tk 4.94 trillion) between July 2017 and June 2018.
Bangladesh had passed a budget of Tk 4.26 trillion for the fiscal, which was later revised down to Tk 3.71 trillion.
In the 12 months from July last year to June this year, letter of credits (LCs) worth $69.42 billion were opened, up 44.25 percent year-on-year.
LC openings for food, capital machinery, raw material and fuel have substantially increased during the period, with food registering a nearly 144 percent growth.
Analysts blamed the surging demand for imports from businesses for the growing imbalance in the country's external trade. If the trade imbalance gets stronger, it might have a negative impact on the foreign exchange reserves and lead to the further devaluation of the local currency against the greenback.
“We are already facing the heat and it will rise in the coming days. The trade balance will go haywire if imports surge at this rate,” said Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of private think-tank Policy Research Institute (PRI).
Analyst Zaid Bakht, however, finds the rise in capital machinery imports as a positive sign.
“That means investors are now keen to invest. Mega-infrastructure projects like the Padma Bridge may have boosted their confidence,” said Bakht, a former research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development now serving as the chairman of state-owned Agrani Bank.
Meanwhile, the trade deficit has widened to a record $18.25 billion in 2017-18 fiscal from $9.47 billion the previous year.
Current account surplus has sky-rocketed to $9.87 billion from $1.33 billion in 2016-17 fiscal.