Bangladesh’s bilateral trade deficit with the rest of the world crossed US$15 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year (FY22).
Statistics released by the central bank showed that gap in trade in goods stood at $15.61 billion in July-December period of 2021 against $6.87 billion in the same period of 2020.
Big jump in import of goods widened the gap with export which also increased significantly during the period under review.
The update table of the balance of payments (BoP) showed that import payments, in terms of free on board (f.o.b), stood at $38.98 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year.
Thus, import registered around 54.50 per cent growth over the same period of the last fiscal year when the value of payments was recorded at $25.23 billion.
Export receipts registered 27.25 per cent growth reaching at $23.36 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal year against $18.36 billion in the past fiscal year (FY21).
The yawning trade gap also enhanced the current account deficit which reached at $8.18 billion in the first half of FY22.
Current account balance was recorded a surplus of $3.51 billion in the same period of FY21, according to the central bank statistics.
