Bangladesh’s FY 2015-16 trade deficit at six-year low

Trade deficit in 2015-16 financial year has come down by 10 percent against the previous year, making it the lowest in six years.

Abdur Rahim Badalbdnews24.com
Published : 17 August 2016, 05:28 AM
Updated : 17 August 2016, 05:28 AM

It stood at $6.27 billion dollar, down from $6.96 billion in 2014-15.
 
Economist Zaid Bakht attributes the decline to a fall in cost of imports.
 
He told bdnews24.com the fall in global food and oil prices have led to near-static import costs, which led to the fall in trade deficit.
 
“Meanwhile the export earnings also experienced a substantial hike, which also contributed to low trade deficit,” said Bakht, the research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).
 


Between July 2015 and June 2016, the cost of Bangladesh’s imports was $39.71 billion, up by 5.45 percent over the previous year.
 
Export earnings rose by 9 percent at $33.44 billion.
 
Trade deficit is calculated from the difference between export and import, which is now at $6.27 billion.

Bangladesh has spent $2.19 billion in 2015-16 for importing fuel, which is 35 percent less than the previous year.
 
Grain (rice and wheat) imports cost $1.08 billion, down by 37.40% from FY 2014-15.


Source: Bangladesh Bank


Six years ago, during FY 2009-10 the trade deficit was at $5.15 billion. 
 
It skyrocketed to $9.93 billion the next year, the highest in Bangladesh’s history.