BB asks banks to impose 25pc margin on LCs for non-essential items

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has asked banks to impose at least 25 per cent margin on the opening of Letter of Credit (LC) for non-essential consumer items to curb the escalated import payments.

Baby food, fuel oil, life-saving drugs and products for farm, export and local industrial sectors would be excluded from the instructions, as per a BB circular issued on Monday.

The central bank has taken the decision as part of its efforts to run the monetary and credit programme properly given the ongoing global state of affair.

Banks have been asked to implement the instruction with immediate effect.