Desk Report
Published: 11 May 2022, 01:14 pm
Bangladesh Bank Logo || Photo: Collected
The products exempted from the LC-margin-restriction inventory are baby foods, essential food and energy products, lifesaving drugs, local and export-oriented industries, government imports for priority projects, and agriculture-related imports, according to the notification.
"We've imposed a higher LC margin to discourage the import of
unnecessary items as well as luxury goods," Abu Farah Md. Nasser, deputy
governor of the BB, told the media while explaining the main objective of the
monetary measure.
Earlier on April 11 last, the central bank imposed a minimum 25-percent cash LC margin on all imports except for some essential items on the same grounds, as reports say the country’s foreign-exchange reserves could get under stress.
The fresh regulatory move comes against the backdrop of a rising trend in the
current-account deficit alongside the depreciating mode of the local currency
against the US dollar recently mainly due to higher import payment pressure on
the economy.