Bangladesh's trade deficit narrows by 12 pc in FY 2024/25

DHAKA: Bangladesh's trade deficit in the initial four months of the current fiscal year 2024-25 (July 2024 - June 2025) has decreased by approximately 12%, reaching $6.66 billion year-on-year, as per the latest data from the Bangladesh Bank.

The central bank's figures show that the country's import payments amounted to $20.95 billion, marking a 1% increase during the July-October period, whereas export earnings rose by 8.3% to $14.30 billion in the same timeframe.

This data illustrates a reduction in the gap between export earnings and import payments from $7.54 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year (July 2023 - June 2024).

Bangladesh Bank officials attribute this improvement to robust remittances from millions of Bangladeshis residing and working abroad, which helped mitigate the impact of the trade deficit.

According to the central bank, Bangladesh's remittances totalled nearly $9 billion during the July-October period this year.

In the fiscal year 2023-24, the trade deficit declined by over 18% to $22.43 billion year-on-year, based on data from the Bangladesh Bank.

By RSS/Xinhua