Bangladesh’s import payments have declined significantly due to strict spending controls from scarce foreign-exchange reserves, with notable drops in capital machinery and raw material imports. Customs-based imports fell 15.54% from July to March of the current financial year, compared to a 12.37% decrease during the same period in FY23, according to Bangladesh Bank data. March 2024 saw a 16.03% year-on-year drop in overall import payments.
The opening and settlement of import letters of credit (LCs) decreased by 4.23% and 13.93% respectively during July-February FY24. Contributing factors include the depreciation of the Bangladesh taka and central bank import monitoring. Customs-cleared import payments were over $49.21 billion in July-March FY24, down from $58.27 billion the previous year. Capital goods imports dropped by 22.5%, and intermediate goods imports fell by 14.2%. Food-grain and consumer goods imports declined by 34% and 18.5%, respectively, while imports for the garment sector decreased by 9.1%.
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