Bangladesh’s trade deficit has widened significantly, reaching $19.17 billion during the July-March period of current 2025-26 fiscal year.
According to updated data on foreign transactions released by Bangladesh Bank on Wednesday, the deficit grew by $2.25 billion in a single month, up from $16.91 billion recorded in February.
The deficit has increased by $3.72 billion, or 24.13 per cent, compared to $15.44 billion recorded during the same period in previous fiscal year.
Export and import trends
Central bank data shows that total export earnings for the first nine months of the current fiscal year stood at $32.28 billion, reflecting a negative growth of 4.4 per cent. In the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, export earnings were $33.86 billion.
Conversely, import expenditure rose to $51.55 billion, a 4.6 per cent increase from the $49.31 billion spent during the July-March period of 2024-25. Economists noted that while import growth remained positive, the decline in export earnings has intensified the pressure on the trade deficit.
Md Ezazul Islam, director general of the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM), stated, “Exports were still at nearly 4.5 per cent negative growth. On the other hand, there was 4.6 per cent positive growth in imports. Consequently, the deficit was bound to increase.”
However, he suggested that the overall foreign transaction situation is not yet under extreme pressure due to strong remittance inflows and the availability of imports on credit. He added that export earnings showed some improvement in April, which may lead to a slight betterment in trade deficit indicators in the coming months.
Remittance and account balances
Remittance inflows reached $26.20 billion during the July-March period, a 20.30 per cent increase from the $21.78 billion received during the same period last year.
While the current account deficit narrowed, the financial account surplus saw a slight decrease. By the end of March, the current account deficit stood at $397 million, down from $998 million in February and $878 million a year earlier.
The financial account surplus was recorded at $3.81 billion in March, compared to $4 billion in February. This is a significant increase from the $570 million surplus recorded during the same period in the previous fiscal year.
The overall balance of payments surplus improved to $3.65 billion by the end of March, up from $3.42 billion in February. This marks a turnaround from the negative $1.10 billion recorded a year ago.
Services sector deficit
Deficit in the services sector has increased due to rising costs in transport, travel, and interest and instalment payments on foreign loans.
Data from Bangladesh Bank indicates that the services sector deficit reached $4.33 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, up from $3.84 billion in February and $3.91 billion in the same period last year.
This represents a monthly increase of $486 million and a year-on-year increase of $414 million.
