Amid a myriad of economic challenges, Bangladesh's imports dropped 18.19% year on year to $33.68 billion in the first half of FY24 from July 2023 to June 2024.
According to latest statistics of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), settlement of letters of credit (LCs) stood at $33,683.51 million in July-December compared to $41,175.28 million in the same period a year earlier.
In the July-December period, the Bangladesh Bank data showed that Bangladesh's overall import orders also declined by 5.33% year-on-year.
Overall import orders, officially known as the fresh opening of import letters of credit, decreased to $32,929.31 million in July-December against $34,784.72 million in the same period of the last fiscal year.
Bangladesh's trade deficit in the last 2022-23 fiscal year dipped by 48.41% year-on-year to $17.16 billion amid shrinking forex reserves-depressed imports.
To boost Bangladesh's shrinking forex reserves, which now stand at around $20 billion, the bank has taken various measures to discourage imports.
The central bank has recently set policies aimed at tackling challenges affecting the economy.
The Bangladesh Bank said that the main objective of its strategic directives in the half-yearly monetary policy, spanning from January to June 2024, is centered on upholding a vigilant, hawkish approach to monetary policy until inflation rates are effectively reined into a desired level.
The Bangladesh Bank said it finds itself at a critical juncture as the economy navigates through the latter half of the fiscal year, facing a multifaceted economic landscape.
The bank said it has decided to increase its policy rate by 25 basis points to 8% from 7.75% to deal with the demand-side pressures while ensuring the required flow of funds to the priority and production sectors to promote supply-side activities.
This was the ninth straight rate hike in the past 20 months as consumer prices have remained at an elevated level.
Bangladesh's inflation was at 9.93% last October, above the central bank's then-target of 6% for the current fiscal year from July 2023 to June 2024.