Dhaka, Nov. 4 -- With the holy month of Ramadan coming closer, there is a growing need to import essential commodities. In the wake of the previous Ramadan, in January 2025, Bangladesh had imported US$1 billion worth of dates, sugar, wheat, lentils, onions, chickpeas, and raw palm and soybean oil. This year, a conglomerate is getting ready to import items valued at about $550 million in order to ensure a sufficient supply of goods in the market throughout the season. However, since Bangladesh Bank recently issued a directive on large-value Letter of Credit (LC) approvals, it has become more challenging to open bulk LCs in a single tranche.

The central bank's new instruction - announced at its 39th AD Forum - requires Authorised Dealer (A...