30 January, 2020
Small importers who import under advance payment and sales contract will have to submit the imported goods’ bill of entries to the Bangladesh Bank.
The central bank introduced the new provision in a circular issued on Thursday to curb money laundering.
From now on, importers will have to submit bills of entries or certified invoices against earlier payment for imports within four months from the day of payment.
The central bank will not allow them to make more payments if reporting of bills of entries remains unmatched beyond four months from the payment date, says the circular.
Earlier, the rule applied to only importers who open letters of credit (LCs) for import. Now all of them will come under the same rule.
The new instruction will stop money laundering, discipline import, said the City Bank Managing Director Mashrur Arefin.
He said a considerable portion of imports would remain unmonitored due to lax rules. There was a chance for laundering money through import under sales contract and advance payment as importers would not need to declare their imported goods.
Now, all kinds of import will come under the Bangladesh Bank’s surveillance through submission of bills of entries, he added.
However, the central bank’s import tightening comes when overall imports remain downward. During July-November of the current fiscal year, imports fell by 5.26 percent, central bank data shows.
But, Mashrur said the new provision would not hurt the import trend.
The Bangladesh Bank tightened import policy two months after it had liberalised advance payment ceiling for small importers.
On November 25, the central bank doubled the ceiling for advance payments made against imports to smoothen the business of small importers of the country.
The advance payment limit was raised to $10,000 from the previous limit of $5,000.
Small importers do not want to open LCs for importing goods in small quantities. So, they are allowed to make advance payments to their sellers abroad through respective banks.
The banks can then make the payment, up to $5,000, on behalf of the importers without the Bangladesh Bank’s approval.
However, the banks can now make such payments of up to $10,000 without the central bank’s approval.
The Bangladesh Bank raised the ceiling after receiving requests after requests for the approval of advance payments that exceeded the existing ceiling, according to a senior Bangladesh Bank executive.
