India now top import source for Bangladesh

India has regained the top position in terms of Bangladesh's importing source by beating China, Bangladesh Bank statistics revealed.
A surge in rice import last fiscal has pushed India up as Bangladesh's main import source in a span of two years.
The central bank data says the country has imported Tk 1,719.04 crore worth of more goods from India than China in the immediate past fiscal year to June 2008.
China was the number one country for Bangladesh's imports in fiscal 2005-06 and 2006-07.
Bangladesh's total import showed a 26 percent rise and reached over Tk 147,000 crore or $21.63 billion last fiscal year, which was Tk 118,489 crore ($17.16 billion) in fiscal 2006-07 and Tk 99,130 crore ($14.76 billion) in fiscal 2005-06.
Imports from India stood at Tk 23,213.86 crore in fiscal 2007-08, which was Tk 21,494.82 crore from China. Imports from India and China were Tk 15,373.20 crore and Tk 17,523.20 crore respectively in fiscal 2006-07.
The country's other three major import partners were Kuwait (Tk 12,162 crore), Singapore (Tk 9,153 crore) and Japan (Tk 5,710 crore) last fiscal year.
Bangladesh's rice import bill from India soared to $874 million in fiscal 2007-08, up from only $180 million in fiscal 2006-07 and $117 million in 2005-06.
“Majority of the rice import was from India,” a senior BB official said.