Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh’s trade deficit widened to $8.74 billion, or by 127.2 per cent during the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year 2021-22.
Data from the Bangladesh Bank showed that the deficit rose to $15.62 billion in the first half of FY22, from $6.87 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
Though the country’s import and export grew substantially, the import growth was higher than the export earnings that kept the country’s trade deficit high.
Central bank data also showed that the country’s export earnings increased by 27.25% to $23.36 billion in July-December of FY22 from $18.35 billion in the first half of FY21.
On the other hand, the country’s import payments grew by 54.49% to $38.97 billion during the period against $25.23 billion in the same period of FY21.
Due to the widening of trade deficit, the country’s foreign exchange reserve has faced contraction after reaching a record high of $48 billion in August 2021.
The remittance inflow saw a 4.52% rise in January compared to the earnings of December 2021.
A report from Bangladesh Bank, published on Tuesday, says that the remittance sent by expatriates increased by around $74 million, or 4.52% compared to the previous month.
Expatriates sent $1.7 billion in January this year, which was $1.63 billion in December.
Bangladesh’s balance of payment showed that its current account balance turned $8.18 billion negative in the first half of the ongoing fiscal, from a positive balance of $3.52 billion in the same period in FY21.
The country, however, had a surplus financial account of $6.68 billion in July-December of FY22 against a surplus of $2.22 billion in the same period of FY21.
As a result, the country’s overall balance turned $1.79 billion negative in July-December of FY22 from a surplus of $6.16 billion in the corresponding period of FY21.
The BB data also showed that the country’s gross foreign direct investment remained static at $1.9 billion in July-December of FY22 compared with that of $1.83 billion in the same period of FY21.
