Goods worth $83.68 billion were imported into Bangladesh through letters of credit (LCs) in the last fiscal year, according to recent import data released by Bangladesh Bank.
The central bank data shows the amount is a massive 46 per cent jump from the previous fiscal year, reports bdnews24.com.
Importers in Bangladesh had opened LCs worth $92.23 billion to import goods in the fiscal year 2021-22, which is 37.59 percent more than the previous fiscal year.
In the financial year 2020-21, $67 billion worth of LCs were opened, while products worth $57.25 billion were imported.
LC settlement rate has increased by 7.52 per cent in the last fiscal year compared to the previous year.
It takes up to 45 days for the goods to arrive in the country after opening the LC for import. After the arrival of the goods, the importer makes the payment in foreign currency through the concerned bank, which is called LC settlement.
Some importers also directly bring in products without an LC. Bangladesh Bank has yet to release the data.
As a result, the complete picture of how much goods were imported in the last fiscal year is yet to be made public.
