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From now Bangladeshi traders from any country will be able to pay bills through exports without using foreign currency against import bills. The Central Bank of Bangladesh issued a notification in this regard.
According to the notification, Bangladeshi exporters, importers, or traders can voluntarily enter into 'counter trade' trade arrangements with their foreign counterparts to settle import bills against the proceeds of goods exported from Bangladesh. Bankers believe that this system will help increase the country's trade and reduce the loss of foreign exchange.
In international trade, counter-trade is a system whereby goods or services are sold in exchange for other goods or services without the use of cash. It is done through mutual agreement between two parties (buyer-seller) of the business. Those countries which have limited foreign exchange reserves are seen to use this system more.
In this context, a senior official of the concerned department of Bangladesh Bank said that counter-trade has been included in the country's new export policy. As a result, this notification has been given to further expand the import and export of the country and to increase the export of Bangladesh to new countries.
Another official of the central bank said, that one of the objectives of our move to a counter-trade facility is to increase our commercial relations with developed countries despite low foreign exchange reserves.
If we can make this agreement with them, our country's export market can be further encouraged. At the same time, through this, we will have the opportunity to export to new markets.
He also said that we have to pay the net gap of import-export with the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) countries. Likewise, through this new counter-trade, the businessmen of our country can agree with any country in the world to import and export on an exchange basis.
Business leaders say that since the central bank has included counter-trade in the new export policy, it means it will bode well for our imports and exports.
They say that the central bank has only given guidelines. Let's see what it does for us. If there is any difficulty, it can be changed later.
However, an exporter of the country's garment sector said that there are some problems in counter-trade. As a result of the agreement between the two countries, certain quantities have to be imported due to which there is some complexity in terms of product quality and price. Among Asian countries, counter-trade systems are prevalent in India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China.
According to the counter-trade directive, banks can open and operate escrow accounts in the name of foreign counterparties or jointly with Bangladeshi counterparties.
Escrow accounts will settle transactions by crediting import bills received from importers in Bangladesh and debiting export payments to exporters against their exports.
As mentioned in the circular, Bangladeshi businessmen can open escrow accounts with the prior permission of Bangladesh Bank. However, this system of counter-trade will not be applicable in the case of Akur trade, it has been informed in the circular.
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