DHAKA, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's trade deficit decreased by 6 billion U.S. dollars to 20 billion dollars in the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2023-24 from July 2023 to June 2024, showed the latest data of the Bangladesh Bank.
The pressure on the trade balance eased slightly as imports fell by 12.6 percent year-on-year during the July-May period of the fiscal year, the local newspaper The Business Standard reported Thursday.
Zahid Hussain, former lead economist at the World Bank's Dhaka office, said that the ongoing U.S. dollar crisis was a major reason for the decrease in imports, adding that the crisis might have eased slightly due to loans from several international organizations, according to the report.
"However, the overall situation has not improved significantly. Efforts to address the dollar crisis by reducing imports are still ongoing," he added.
Bangladesh's gross foreign exchange reserves fell to below 22 billion dollars on 30 June from 27 billion dollars in December last year. ■
