Interest for import financing of Ramadan items set at 9pc

Bangladesh Bank yesterday fixed a maximum 9 per cent interest rate on the import of nine essential commodities to keep the prices of the products stable during the month of Ramadan.

The commodities are edible oil, chickpeas, lentil, dun peas, onion, spices, dates, fruits and sugar.

Banks have to maintain the interest rate on the import financing of the products with immediate effect as businesses have already started importing the products eyeing the upcoming Ramadan, according to a central bank notice.

The banking regulator also asked lenders to keep a minimum margin for opening letters of credit (LCs) of the nine commodities.

The import margin is the portion of the cost of the products that the businesses must pay to banks in advance when opening the LCs.

The instruction of keeping the lower margin will be effective until May 30 this year.

Ramadan is scheduled to start in the second half of April.