Notwithstanding the spread of coronavirus, the country’s merchandise import crossed US$60 billion mark in the last fiscal year (FY21).
The import payments for goods stood at $ 65.59 billion in the last fiscal year in terms of C.&.F (Cost & Freight) value, registering around 20 per cent growth over the previous fiscal year (FY20).
Cost refers to the cost of goods and freight refers to all other costs relating to all the means of transportation of the goods. It thus means that the seller or importer must pay the costs and freight necessary to ship the goods to a named port of destination. The seller must also procure marine insurance against the buyer's or importer’s risk or loss to the goods during the carriage.
Import in FY20, in terms of C&F value, was recorded at $54.79 billion, according to the central bank statistics, while the value was $59.91 billion in FY19.
Thus, import bounced back robustly in the last fiscal year after a big drop in the previous year.
Import in terms of FoB (Free on Borad) value, however, reached $60.68 billion in FY21 which was recorded at $50.69 billion in FY20.
Robust growth in import indicates a surge in external demand as well as revival of the economic activities thanks to a series of fiscal and monetary stimulus packages.
