Bangladesh posts current account surplus of 1.02 bln USD

Xinhua

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Bangladesh recorded a current account surplus of over one billion U.S. dollars in the first month of the current 2014-15 fiscal year (July 2014-June 2015) as import payments dipped by double-digit levels, official data showed Sunday.

According to Bangladesh Bank (BB), the current account balance showed a surplus of 1,023 million U.S. dollars in July in contrast to a surplus of 576 million U.S. dollars during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year (July 2013-June 2014).

Due mainly to healthy current account balance, Bangladesh's overall balance of payments (BoP) surplus reached 429 million U.S. dollars in July this year.

Despite the country witnessed a decline in export earning, officials said BB current account balance and overall balance of payments recorded their surplus due to a double-digit fall in import payments .

Official statistics showed the country's imports in the first month of 2014-15 fiscal year plunged by 11.36 percent from that of 2013-14 fiscal year, while year-on-year exports also slide 1.03 percent in the same period.

The country's import payment was 2,770 million U.S. dollars in the first month of 2014-15 fiscal year while earning from export was 2,965 million U.S. dollars during the same period, the BB data showed.

Bangladesh's current account surplus in the last 2013-14 fiscal year concluded in June shrank by 35 percent to reach over 1.5 billion U.S. dollars as the country witnessed moderate growth in export earnings and inflow of remittances.

According to BB data, the flow of inward remittances in the 2013-14 financial year fell about 1.61 percent to 14.23 billion U. S. dollars.