The import of 30 goods, which are in high demand in industry, farming and households, through Custom House, Chattogram has dropped in volume by 26 percent in the first five months of fiscal year 2023-24 compared to the same period of last year.

The items include diesel, octane, furnace oil, crude oil, cement clinker, stone, iron, steel tubes, diammonium phosphate, triple superphosphate, disodium sulphate, cotton, soya beans, dried peas, dried lentils, orange and dates.

According to data from Custom House, Chattogram and National Board of Revenue (NBR), some 1.20 crore tonnes of these items were imported in the July-November period of 2023-24.

In value, they amounted to Tk 48,819 crore.

In the same period of 2022-23, some 1.63 crore tonnes were imported, whose value was Tk 79,063 crore.

Customs data shows that it caused a drop in revenue generation to Tk 6,350 crore, around Tk 1,060 crore less than that last year.

The main reasons for the drop are an ongoing crisis of US dollars and a fall in domestic demand, said importers and customs officials.

The country's foreign exchange reserve crossed $48 billion in August of 2021, which was a record high. But reserves have continued to fall since due to higher outflow of foreign exchange compared to inflow.

Yesterday the reserves stood at $21.44 billion.

"Dollar crisis is the main reason for the import drop of these products," Moinul Islam, economist and former professor of the University of Chittagong, told The Daily Star.

The fuel imports dropped mainly due to the decrease in raw material import alongside suspension of new factory construction, he said, pointing out that there would be no employment if there were no increase in industrial production.

Moreover, food and commodity import dropped as the US dollar turned costlier against the taka, said the economist, pointing out that these might have had a negative impact on the country's economy.

The interbank rate stood at Tk 110 per US dollar yesterday. It was around 108 at the end of June.

"The highest dollar spending was on importing fuel, fertilisers and consumer goods," said Mahbubul Alam, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

"However, there has been a negative impact on the country's imports due to it being difficult to open letters of credit amidst the dollar crisis," he said.

"New investment did not come about this time (apprehending instability) …before the elections. Due to such reasons, import of raw materials by the industry has reduced," he added.

According to the customs and NBR data, around 14.97 lakh tonnes of diesel were imported this fiscal year whereas 21.76 lakh tonnes in the same period of the previous year.

Import of furnace oil came down to 11.79 lakh tonnes from 18.04 lakh tonnes while import of octane fell to 1.19 lakh tonnes from 1.59 lakh tonnes.

Similarly, around 5.73 lakh tonnes of diammonium phosphorus were imported last FY but in this FY it only 1.78 lakh tonnes.

A total of 64.4 lakh tonnes of cement clinker were imported in the last five months compared to 65.5 lakh tonne last year.

Also, businesses brought in 1.19 lakh tonnes of maize in this year, down from 4.11 lakh tonnes a year ago.

About 2.11 lakh tonnes of palm oil were imported in the last five months compared to 3 lakh tonnes in the previous year.