Import of capital machinery maintained a steady growth of 15.20 percent in July-April period of the just-concluded fiscal year (FY21), indicating a sign of rise in investment and productivity in the manufacturing sector.
During the July-April period of FY21, the value of opening of settlement of letters of credit (LCs) for capital machinery was US$3796.69 million, up by US$501.02 million from the July-March period of the same fiscal year, according to the latest data of Bangladesh Bank (BB).
Authorized Dealer (AD) banks opened LCs for capital machinery import worth US$3295.67 million during the July-March period of FY21.
"The rise in the import of capital machinery is a good sign for the economy . . . such a rise means investment is increasing in the manufacturing sector which has been bouncing overcoming Covid-19 fallouts," said a BB official.
Import of industrial raw materials has also increased during the July-April period of FY21, according to the BB's data.
LCs opened for the import of raw cotton and synthetic fibre was US$ 2699.86 million during the July-April of FY21, which was US$1867.65 million during the corresponding period of FY20.
LCs opening for the import of textile fabrics and accessories for garments increased by
US$185.91 million to US$7446.12 million in the July-April period of FY21 which was US$7260.21 million in FY20. LC opening for pharmaceutical raw materials increased by US$94.97 million to US$930,13 million in July-April of FY21, which was US$835.16 million during the corresponding period of FY20.
During the July-April period of FY21, LC opening for chemicals and chemical products
increased by US$358.73 million to US$2630.35 million against the same period of last fiscal's US$2271.62 million.
Import of consumer goods increased significantly during the period of FY21. LCs opening for rice significant increased 21,654.14 percent to US$ 873.19 million in July-April of FY21 than that of the same period of the FY20.
Rice import went up as the government gave permission to import rice to meet up internal
demand. Wheat import increased 8.48 per cent while onion 13.80 per cent. Fresh Fruits and dry fruits increased 40.54 per cent while edible oil 27.10.
Import of drugs and medicines increased 16.12 per cent to US$92.79 million during July-April period of FY21 which was US$79.92 million during the same period of FY20.
As per the central bank report, the domestic demand will continue to grow as remittance inflow was high amid the pandemic.
The report mentioned that as the private sector is turning around, imports will increase in the coming days and the economy will turn around despite the second wave of Covid-19.
