The country’s merchandise trade gap with the rest of the world reduced by 10.43 per cent during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year (FY19). The latest statistics released by the central bank last week showed that merchandise trade deficit stood at US$13.67 billion in July-April period of the current fiscal year while the amount was $15.26 billion in the same period of FY18. Higher growth in export earnings and lower growth in import payments contributed to reducing the trade gap. Export earnings in July-April registered 11.15 per cent growth against 3.88 per cent in import, according to the balance of payments (BoP) table of Bangladesh Bank. Trade gap in service trade was, however, almost static during the period under review. The deficit in service trade stood at $2.96 billion in the first ten months of the current fiscal year, which was $2.91 billion in the same period of FY18. Earnings from service export registered 54 per cent growth in the July-April period of the current fiscal year. At the same time, payments for service import posted 31 per cent growth during the period under review.
Source – Financial Express.
