Bangladesh Bank on Sunday asked the scheduled banks to extend their cooperation to the importers of essential commodities so that they (importers) can open easily letters of credit against such items to meet demand for the commodities in the upcoming Ramadan. The BB issued a circular to the authorised dealer branches of all banks saying that the central bank had taken the initiative to keep stable the prices of essential commodities ahead of Ramadan. The BB suggested the banks that they should extend their support to the businesspeople so that they can open LCs easily maintaining regular process. ‘The prices of essential commodities including edible oil, sugar and dates usually increase ahead of Ramadan,’ a BB official told New Age on Sunday. The BB data showed that the import bill payment had already posted a10.64-per cent growth in April this year compared with that of 2.30 per cent growth in the same month last year due to a rise in payment of bills for food products imported to meet demand in the upcoming Ramadan. The total import bill payment stood at $3.04 billion in April this year. The figure was $2.74 billion in April 2013 and $2.68 billion in April 2012.