The country’s import bill payment in July-February of the current financial year grew by 13.62 per cent from that of the same period in the previous year when payment grew by 44.30 per cent year-on-year.
Officials of Bangladesh Bank said the import payment growth declined in the first eight months of the current FY because
of lower import of food grains, industrial raw
materials and capital machinery.
According to data released by BB on Thursday, the settlement of letters of credit for import in July-February stood at $ 24.17 billion, growing by 13.62 per cent from the same period of FY 2010-11.
LC settlement in July-February of FY 2010-11 was $ 20.59 billion, or 44.30 per cent higher than the figure of same period of previous FY 2009-10.
A high official of BB said import payments declined because of tighter monetary policy taken by the central bank amid shortage of foreign currency reserve.
BB data showed that foreign exchange reserve stood at $ 9.67 billion on Wednesday.
The forex reserve tumbled below $10 billion mark after an import payment of $893.5 to the Asian Clearing Union in the first week of March.
The official said that short supply of dollar had also contributed to lower import orders during
the period. Most of the private commercial banks were now facing dollar shortage.
According to BB data, the opening of LCs had registered a negative growth of 7.54 per cent in July-February compared to that of 48.91 per cent growth
in July-February of FY 2010-11.
LC opening in July-February stood at $ 24.17 billion against $ 26.14 billion during the same period of the previous financial year.
 Another BB official said that the value of Taka was now stable against the US dollar due to lower import growth in the last few months.
Under the circumstances, the pressure on forex reserve has eased, he said. 
BB data showed the purchase rate of dollar stood at Tk 81.83 and the sale
rate at Tk 81.77 on
Wednesday, coming down from Tk 84.40 and Tk 84.48 respectively on February 1, 2012.
He, however, said that the country’s industrialisation process would be hampered because of decline in import of industrial raw materials and capital machinery.    
The growth in settlement of LCs or actual import payment for industrial raw materials dropped by 12.61 per cent and capital machinery by 19.82 per cent in July-February compared to that of 54.58 per cent and 39.71 per cent growth respectively in the same period of FY 2010-11.
LC settlement in the first seven months of the current financial year for industrial raw materials and capital machinery was worth $ 9.21 billion and $ 1.58 billion respectively against $ 8.18 billion and $ 1.32 billion in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.
On the other hand, LC opening for industrial raw materials and capital machinery in July-February posted a negative growth of 8.64 per cent and 26.87 per cent compared to that of 68.60 per cent and 71.65 per cent respectively in the same period of the previous financial year.
LCs worth $9.66 billion and 1.45 billion were opened for industrial raw materials and capital machinery in July-February against $10.50 billion and $1.98 billion in the corresponding period of last financial year.
LC settlement for food grains in July-February registered a negative growth of 36.83 per cent from 116.55 per cent in the same period of FY 2010-11.
LC settlement for food grains in July-February of the current financial year was worth $704.01 million against $1.11 billion in the same period of the previous year.