BB relaxes LC margin for baby food imports

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has announced a significant relaxation on the import of crucial food items for infants, allowing the margin for Letters of Credit (LCs) for baby food imports to be set based on bank-customer relations.

To this end, the central bank today issued a circular, asking banks to implement the directive immediately.

Earlier, BB had instructed commercial banks to maintain a 100 percent cash margin for establishing import LCs related to certain categories, including non-cereal food, processed food, and beverages. These previously mentioned products included items such as canned food, chocolate, biscuits, juice, coffee, and soft drinks.

Bangladesh Bank recently became aware that some banks were interpreting the earlier circular to include essential baby food among the products requiring the 100 percent cash margin. This obligation was being imposed on the concerned importers.

The new directive clarifies that the LC margin for baby food import is now to be determined based on the relationship between the bank and its customer.