Bangladesh's Imports Falls By 8.0 Percent In April

Dhaka, Bangladesh (AHN) - Bangladesh's imports fell by nearly 8.0 percent in April over that of the previous month due to drop in demand for some commodities, including rice, officials say in Dhaka.

Letters of credit (LCs) for import worth US$1.850 billion were settled in April, 2008 against $2.011 billion in the previous month, according to the central bank statistics, released on Thursday.

"The import of rice declined in April last due to seasonal impact," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country's central ban, told AHN Media Corp. in the capital, Dhaka.

On the other hand, the opening of fresh LCs against imports also recorded a fall by $6.11 million in the same period over the previous month of the current calendar year.

In April, the import LCs worth $2.394 billion were opened against $2.4 billion in the month of March, the BB's data showed.