Bangladesh is unlikely to face any problem in importing food items from Russia and Ukraine or any other countries as the government is considering alternative payment arrangements, bypassing SWIFT.
"The government has no restrictions … there is no problem in importing food items," Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi told the media after a high-level meeting on food import at Bangladesh Secretariat on Thursday.
The meeting had discussions in detail to examine whether there is any problem if Bangladesh imports food items amid sanctions on Russia.
"Internationally, there is no problem for us," he said, adding that there are 24 international banks that can facilitate importing food items with the US dollar.
He said the banks still maintain a financial connection with Moscow, to arrange payments against imported commodities from Russia, bypassing the SWIFT system.
"If necessary, food items could be imported from any country," he added.
The meeting also elaborately discussed the present stock situation of food in the country.
Mr Munshi assured that there would not be any food crisis in the country in the foreseeable future since there is no ban on the import of grains from Russia.
"Grain and food items are not listed as commodities under the sanctions list. So, importing those should not be a problem," he said.
