State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu on Tuesday told parliament that currently there is a trade deficit between neighbouring countries including India, China and Pakistan.
He said that in FY2022-23, the maximum trade deficit was with China and it amounted to $15,488.84 million (or $15.48 billion).
The trade deficit with India was $7,160.81 million (or $7.16 billion), $466.33 million with Pakistan, $116.21 million with Myanmar, $14.29 million with Bhutan, and $1.49 million with Afghanistan.
The state minister shared the data while responding to a written question of independent lawmaker 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 FY23 was $15.49 billion, the state minister said.
In response to another written question of independent MP 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 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 independent lawmaker from Barishal Pankaj Nath, the state minister also 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.
