Bangladesh Trade Deficit Widens To Over $3.92 Billion

Dhaka, Bangladesh (AHN) - Bangladesh's overall trade deficit widened by 65.16 percent to $3.921 billion in the first nine months of this fiscal due to price hike of essential items in the global market.

"Higher prices of most of the essential items, including food grains and fuel, in the international market have pushed the trade deficit further higher," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country's central bank, told AHN Media Corporation in the capital, Dhaka on Saturday.

The overall trade deficit rose to $3.921 billion in July-March period of fiscal 2007-08 from $2.374 billion during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

During the period, export earnings stood at $10.045 billion against the import payments of $13.966 billion, according to the central bank statistics.

"Despite larger deficit in trade balance the current account balance recorded a surplus of $390 million during July-March, 2007-08 against the surplus of $605 million during July-March, 2006-07 due mainly to larger current transfers of $6.233 billion," the central bank says in its Major Economic Indicators: Monthly Update for May, 2008.

The overall balance of payments, however, recorded a surplus of $215 million at the end of March last as against a surplus of $809 million during the same period of the previous fiscal due to surplus in capital account and current account amounting to $390 million and $358 million respectively, according to the Update.

"The country's overall balance of payments is maintaining a surplus trend due to higher inflow remittances and foreign aid," another BB official told AHN Media Corporation in Dhaka.

Bangladesh received $7.163 billion from expatriate Bangladeshis during the July-May period of fiscal 2007-08 against $5.462 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, the BB said.

On the other hand, the net receipts of foreign aid recorded higher at $877.74 million during the period against $537.52 million of the corresponding period of previous fiscal, thanks to huge donors' assistance for the floods and cyclone victims, officials confirmed.