Trade deficit falls by 10.43% 

Trade deficit fell by 10.43 per cent in first 10 months of the current fiscal year (FY) compared to the same period last year. Bangladesh Bank (BB) data shows the deficit stood at $13.67 billion in July-April of FY19, which was $15.26 billion during the same time last year.

“It will reduce pressure on macro-economy,” bankers cautiously noted, with rising export earnings and remittance flow, amid slow depreciation of local currency against dollar, to thank for it.

According to BB data, remittance flow hit record heights in May, just ahead of the Eid festival. Bangladesh received remittance worth $1.75 billion that month, which was 22.43 per cent higher than a year earlier, and 16.64 per cent from a month earlier.

The remittance growth was 10 per cent in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, while export growth was 11.15 per cent during the same period, central bank data shows.

In the meantime, bankers observed that slow depreciation of local currency against dollar was a ‘silver lining’. “The depreciation of taka encouraged remitters to send more money home through banking channels,” they said.

The inter-bank exchange rate stood at Tk 84.50 in June last, up from Tk 83.90 in the same period of the last year.