Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir on Monday told Parliament that the country’s trade deficit increased by nearly US$ 8 billion over the five fiscal years, reaching US$ 24.16 billion in FY25 from $ 16.24 billion in FY21 for what he described as wrong policies of the previous governments.
“The country’s trade deficit has widened due to wrong policies pursued by the previous governments,” he said, replying to a starred question from ruling party lawmaker Jashim Uddin Ahmed (Chattogram-14).
The commerce minister said the global energy crisis, hike in prices due to the Russia-Ukraine war, the dollar crisis and international market conditions have also played an important role in the rise of the trade deficit.
“In particular, the trade deficit has increased due to high import costs for energy, food, industrial raw materials and slow export growth,” he said.
Muktadir also placed the statistics of the trade gaps of the five fiscal years from 2020-2021 to 2024-2025.
According to official statistics presented by him, Bangladesh’s trade deficit stood at $16.24 billion in FY21, then rose sharply to $28.13 billion in FY22 before declining slightly to $27.18 billion in FY23, dropping further to $21.50 billion in FY24, and finally increasing to $24.16 billion in FY25.
The country’s export volume was $ 45.36 billion in FY21, $ 60.97 billion in FY22, $ 53.92 billion in FY23, $ 51.11 billion in FY24 and $ 55.19 billion in FY25.
Meanwhile, the import volume was $ 61.60 billion, $ 89.10 billion, $ 78.29 billion, $ 72.61 billion and $ 79.35 billion, respectively.
To narrow the trade deficit, the commerce minister outlined a series of measures undertaken by the government through strengthening export performance.
He said although Bangladesh exported goods to 202 countries and territories during FY2024-25, the ready-made garments (RMG) sector accounted for about 84 percent of total export earnings. To reduce dependence on a single export item, the government has taken initiative to extend RMG-like incentives to other promising export sectors, he said.
Partial export-oriented companies in eight sectors – leather and leather goods, jute and jute products, agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, ICT and software services, light engineering products, frozen foods and fish, and plastic products – have also been provided bond facilities against bank guarantees, Muktadir added.
He said the government has launched the “One District, One Product” programme, modelled after successful programmes in Japan and Thailand, to diversify exports and accelerate region-based export activities. “Under the programme, 14 products have been identified from 64 districts,” he said.
The minister also highlighted the government’s initiatives to sign free trade agreements (FTA) with several countries, including Malaysia, Türkiye and New Zealand.
Besides, the 3rd round of negotiation between Bangladesh and Singapore is scheduled to be held in Dhaka in August 2026 to sign an FTA between the two countries, he said.