The country鈥檚 trade deficit narrowed slightly in the July-October period of the 2024-25 financial year compared with that in the same period of FY24.
In July-October, trade deficit reached $6.63 billion against $7.54 billion in the same period of FY24, according to Bangladesh Bank data.
Export earnings鈥� growth and import spending reductions contributed to this improvement, bankers said.
The country鈥檚 current account deficit also narrowed down to $752 million in July-October of FY25 from deficit balance of $3.16 billion in the same period of the previous year as export earnings increased in the period, according to the central bank data.
In the first four months of FY25, the country鈥檚 import payments rose marginally by 1 per cent compared with that in the same period of the previous year.
That is, import payments increased to $20.95 billion in July-October from $20.73 billion in the same period of the past year.
In July-October, the country鈥檚 export earnings grew by 8.3 per cent to $14.29 billion compared with those of $13.19 billion in the same period of 2023 due to increased shipments of readymade garment products.
The BB data also showed that the country鈥檚 net foreign direct investment decreased by 19.8 per cent to $388 million in July-October compared with that of $484 million in the same period of the previous year.
The country has a surplus financial account of $1,187 million in July-October against a deficit of $873 million in the same period of 2023.
The positive financial account contributed in stabilising the dollar rate on the financial market.
The financial account in the balance of payments is akin to a record of a country鈥檚 financial transactions with the other countries, detailing investments going in and out, loans being given and received, and changes in the country鈥檚 financial reserves.
The deficit in trade in services also increased in July-October to $1,636 million from that of $1,253 million in the same period of the past year.
Gross foreign exchange reserves, according to International Monetary Fund guidelines, reached $18.7 billion on November 27.
The Bangladesh Bank stopped selling dollars from its reserve directly to banks, which helped in stabilising foreign reserve balance.
The Bangladeshi taka, which has experienced depreciation against the US dollar, reached Tk 120 against the greenback.
The exchange rate per dollar was Tk 84.81 in June 2021, Tk 93.45 in June 2022 and Tk 106 in June 2023.
