How much trade deficits Bangladesh currently has with various countries?
State minister for commerce briefs parliament
State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu has said currently there is a trade deficit between countries including India, China and Pakistan.
He said that in the last fiscal year 2022-23, the maximum trade deficit was with China and it amounted to USD 15,488.84 million ($15.48 billion).
The trade deficit with India was USD 7,160.81 million ($7.16 billion), with Pakistan USD 466.33 million, USD 116.21 million with Myanmar, USD 14.29 million trade deficit with Bhutan and USD 1.49 million trade deficit with Afghanistan.
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The state minister said this while responding to a written question of Independent lawmaker elected from Dhaka-19 Muhammad Saiful Islam.
He, however, said that Bangladesh has no trade deficit with Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
The total trade deficit of Bangladesh in the fiscal year 2022-23 was USD 15.49 billion, the state minister said.
In response to another written question of Independent MP elected from Sylhet Mohammad Huchamuddin Chowdhury, the state minister said that at one time the domestic demand for tea in the country was less than the production.
"The surplus tea was exported at that time. Currently the domestic demand of tea in the country is about 100 million kg. Production and demand are almost equal," he said.
He said that due to the increased purchasing power, almost all the tea produced in the country is used to meet the domestic demand.
"So there is not much surplus tea left for export."
However, the state minister said that last year in 2023, 102.92 million kg of tea was produced in the country.
"Out of that, 10.5 lakh kg of tea has been exported. On the other hand, only 6 lakh kg of tea was imported for re-export and manufacturing of value added tea," he said.
In response to a question of an independent lawmaker elected from Barishal Pankaj Nath, the minister of state for commerce said that initiatives have been taken to maintain adequate supply of daily commodities in the market to keep the prices of essential commodities within the reach of common people during the month of Ramadan.
