BB allows import of 8 essentials on deferred payment ahead of Ramadan

Business entities will now be able to import eight essential goods on deferred payment basis as Bangladesh Bank has announced such facilities aiming to keep the supply of these commodities smooth during the upcoming holy month of Ramadan.

These commodities are edible oil, chickpea, pulse, pea, onion, spices, sugar and date.

“The central bank has given approval to the authorized importers to make the supply of these commodities available during Ramadan and to keep prices of those at a tolerable level,” said director of Foreign Exchange Policy Department (FEPD) of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) Md Sarwar Hossain.

The FEPD issued a circular on Tuesday to overcome the supply crunch of these essentials during Ramadan.

Under the facility, the authorized dealers will be allowed to open Letter of Credits (LCs) for the import of these goods on deferred payment terms up to 90 days under suppliers/buyers’ credit scheme.

The facility will remain applicable from the date of initiation of imports till March 31, 2023.

The latest central bank circular came after a BB instruction that allowed all scheduled banks to keep cash margin of the import LCs at the lowest level as per the relations between banks and subscribers.

Source: BSS