Siddique Islam, (National News Service), Dhaka, Sunday, March 06: the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, Saturday asked all the commercial banks not to open any fresh letters of credit (LCs) against imports without settling the previous import-related matters, official sources said.
In all cases of remittances of imports, an importer must submit within four months from the dates of remittances the relevant exchange control copies of the customs bill of entry and certified invoices, the sources added. The central bank took the move to ease the pressure on foreign exchange in the market through curbing fake imports by implementation of the existing rules and regulations tightly, the sources noted.
The country's banking sector watchdog issued a circular Saturday in this connection and directed the commercial banks to follow the new regulations for opening fresh LCs against import of any commodity. Under the new regulations, the commercial banks will refrain from opening fresh LCs for those who failed to maintain the existing rules and regulations properly.
In cases of new importer, the banks have to procure and file previous import-related docu ments issued to the client by any other banks before opening fresh LCs against import. The BB will detect discrepancies if any from quarterly statements from commercial banks on the bill of entry and remittances, If necessary the central bank will instruct not to open fresh LCs for concerned importers.
"We always encourage the genuine importers to run their business smoothly but they have to abide by the laws of the land," a BB senior official told the correspondent Saturday, adding that the central bank wants to check fake imports through strict application of its rules and regulations.
The value of opening LCs against import stood at US$ 7.01 billion in the first half of the current fiscal, a record high growth at 24.7 per cent over the same period of the previous fiscal.
The LCs were worth $5.62 billion during July-December in fiscal 2003-04.
Earlier, the central bank asked all commercial banks to confirm the entry of the imported products into the country even after payment made against them.
The BB also directed the banks to collect all the business-related information of the importers before issuing any letter of credit (LC) for import, sources in the central bank said. (End/si)
