Bangladesh Bank (BB) advised the commercial banks to encourage traders for opening Letter of Credit (LCs) for import of essentials to keep the prices of the essential commodities stable ahead of two major festivals – Eid-ul-Azha and Durga Puja.

Sources said the central bank has already sent letters to the state-owned and private commercial banks to this effect.

The central bank’s latest advice came in the wake of declining trend of overall imports in recent months as the central bank maintains a tightening monetary policy to contain the inflationary pressure.

Sources said the directive was given to contain price spiral of essentials during the upcoming festive seasons since some dishonest traders try making hefty profit by taking advantage of supply crisis ahead of any major festival.

After announcing its monetary policy in last July, the central bank asked the commercial banks not to fund any non-productive import. The BB is executing the same monetary policy since immediate-past fiscal.

According to the central bank statistics, opening of LCs against imports declined by slightly above 13 percent to $ 2.4 billion in August compared to $ 2.8 billion in July last. The settlement of LCs fell by 12 percent to $ 2.4 billion in August compared to $ 2.8 billion in the previous month.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/4th-Oct-12