Trade deficit widens to $3.82b in Jul-Aug

Bangladesh’s trade deficit widened to $3.82 billion in the first two months of fiscal year 2026-27 as import payments rose faster than export earnings.

Export earnings increased by 5.8 percent to $8.38 billion in July-August of this fiscal year, while readymade garment exports stood at $7.48 billion, according to Bangladesh Bank data.

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Import payments, meanwhile, increased by 12.1 percent to $12.20 billion during the first two months of the fiscal year.

Import payments rose partly due to higher petroleum import costs amid tensions in the Middle East.

Among imports, petroleum products jumped 100 percent to $2.49 billion in the two-month period.

The trade deficit stood at $2.09 billion in July alone.

However, the country’s current account balance rose to $599 million in the two-month period of this fiscal year, from $197 million in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

The current account balance in the balance of payments (BoP) measures the net flow of a country’s goods, services, income and transfers with the rest of the world.

During July-August of FY27, the financial account deficit widened to $1.14 billion from $197 million in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

The financial account covers claims on, or liabilities to, non-residents concerning financial assets. Its components include foreign direct investment (FDI), medium- and long-term loans, trade credit, net aid flows, portfolio investment and reserve assets.

In the financial account, net FDI fell to $223 million from $243 million, the data showed.

The country’s overall deficit increased to $694 million in July-August of FY27 from $53 million in the same period of the previous fiscal year, the data showed.