Rice worth Tk 149bn imported by Bangladesh in 4 years

Bangladesh has imported rice worth Tk 148.65 billion in the last four fiscals, says the commerce minister.

Responding to a query in Parliament on Wednesday, Tofail Ahmed said rice worth Tk 59.41 billion was imported during 2010-11 FY, Tk 21.86 billion during 2012-13 and Tk 27 billion in 2013-14.
 
In the ten months (July-Apr) of the current 2014-15 financial year, Tk 37.96 billion worth of rice had already been imported, he added.
 
The minister said Bangladesh currently imported rice from India, China, Pakistan and Myanmar.
 
Replying to another question, Ahmed said, “Bangladesh exports 729 kinds of goods to various countries.”
 
Bangladesh had earned $870.86 billion by exporting vegetables alone from 1991-92 fiscal to 2013-14 fiscal, he told Parliament.
 
Over 400,000 went abroad last year
 
A total of 425,684 people have left Bangladesh to work in other countries in the past one year, Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain has said.
 
Responding to a question in Parliament on Wednesday, he said until May this year the number of workers who went abroad stood at nearly 9.3 million.
 
The country also received $14.93 billion in remittances last year, he added.