Grain import slips 30pc
The import of food grain has dropped 30 percent in the last two months of the current fiscal year, compared to the same period a year ago.
This year's bumper production of Boro and Aus across the country resulted in a sharp fall in import of food grain, said officials at the food ministry.
However, the import of food grain increased 152 percent in the July-August period of fiscal 2007-08 over the same period in fiscal 2006-07.
According to Bangladesh Bank statistics on letters of credit settlements, rice and wheat worth $98 million were imported in the last two months of the current fiscal year against $139 million in imports of the same products in the year-earlier period.
The LC opening for importing food grain decreased 69 percent in the last two months of the current fiscal year from the same period of the previous fiscal year. The LC opening increased 431 percent in the July-August period of fiscal 2007-08, compared to the year-earlier period, the BB statistics show.
Food ministry officials said the import of food grain in the private sector fell sharply due to the government procurement of rice from India under bilateral agreement.
In a report, the food ministry said the private sector's import of rice remained sluggish in September, but the government import increased slightly.
It also said Bangladesh has already received 68 percent of the 5 lakh tonnes of rice in exports from India under bilateral agreement.
This year, the country has yielded about 1.75 crore tonnes of Boro against the previous year's 1.49 crore tonnes.
In an initial estimate, the Department of Agricultural Extension said the production of Aus would surpass this year's target of 23-25 lakh tonnes.
According to the food ministry statistics, the government stock of food grain rose to 11.49 lakh tonnes in July against 7.86 lakh tonnes in the same period of the previous year.
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