The country’s merchandise trade gap with the rest of the world stood at $1.81 billion in the first two months of the current fiscal year (FY18).
Statistics released by the central bank on Sunday also showed that trade gap increased three and a half times from the same period of the past fiscal year when it was $525 million.
Huge jump in import payments against the export earnings enhanced the trade gap.
Import, in free on board (FoB) term, registered almost 34 per cent growth while the export (in FoB value) posted 14.57 per cent growth in July-August period of the current fiscal year.
Trade gap in services also increased to $778 million during the period under review.
Bangladesh Bank statistics further showed that current account balance turned into negative at $451 million which was significantly positive at $812 million.
The overall balance of the external account dropped to negative territory of $206 million in the period under review while it was a surplus of around $1.18 billion in the same period of FY17.
