The country's trade deficit in the current financial year will cross $8 billion, Centre for Policy Dialogue executive director Mustafizur Rahman has said.
Reviewing the latest updates of export-import data, he told the news agency on Monday that the trade deficit stood at $6.43 billion in the first 10 months of the 2010-11 fiscal.
'This figure is much higher than any whole-year deficit in the past. The deficit will cross $8 billion mark if the accounts of the last two months are added,' he said.
The trade deficit was $4.5 billion in the first 10 months of 2009-10 fiscal year and $5.152 billion in the year.
According to the central bank statistics, Bangladesh imported goods worth $24.745 billion while exported products valued at $18.315 in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year.
Most of the export earnings, $14.17 billion, came from readymade garment sector.
Bangladesh Bank statistics suggest that import expenditure outpaced the export earnings during the period.
According to the statistics, export earnings increased by 41.13 per cent while import cost increased by 41.51 per cent.
In 2009-10 fiscal year, export earning went up by 4.11 per cent and import expenditure by 5.47 per cent.
The CPD executive director said: 'Trade deficit is always there in our country. But this time the deficit will be higher than any other past period. Basically, the rise in import expenditure led to the trade deficit.'
'Prices of food, fuel, oil and every other thing increased in the global market. Import of these goods also rose due to higher demand. So the import expenditure also went up,' he explained.
Mustafizur also said: 'Fuel import rose due to establishment of rental power plants. Import of fabrics and yarns also increased as export of garments rose. A large amount of money was spent on these heads.'
Trade deficit registered a record high in 2007-08 fiscal year as the country had to import a large amount of food following Sidr, a devastating storm that hit Bangladesh in November 2007 destroying crops of its southern areas.
The deficit was $5.33 billion that fiscal year and $4.71 in the following one.
It was $2.21 billion, $2.31 billion, $3.29 billion, $2.88 billion and $3.45 billion in the fiscal years from 2002-03 to 2006-07 respectively.
In his budget speech for 2011-12 fiscal year, finance minister AMA Muhith said: 'We've taken a number of programmes to develop the investment condition by improving power, infrastructures and other sectors.'
'Trade deficit has increased due to the rise in fuel price and fuel import volume and import of machinery for power plants that we are constructing,' he added.
The finance minister also said the situation would improve soon.
'A foreign-investment-friendly field will be created by improving power sector and infrastructures. It'll help decrease trade deficit,' he said.
Source : New Age
