Bangladesh-India Trade Deficit ‘Widens’ in FY2025-26: Commerce Minister

Bangladesh's trade deficit with India widened in the 2025-26 fiscal year compared with the previous year, Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir has said.

Total trade between the two countries now stands at nearly $13 billion, with Bangladesh's exports to India amounting to $1.89 billion.

The minister disclosed the figures in response to a supplementary question from Jamaat-e-Islami MP Abdul Baten in parliament on Thursday.

Muktadir said Bangladesh also runs a substantial trade deficit with China. However, the government wants to focus on overall trade rather than examining the deficit with any single country separately.

He said several sectors, including leather, jute, shipbuilding, light engineering and semiconductors, have been identified to increase the country's export capacity.

The government is working to boost exports from these sectors through policy support and new investment, he said.

There is also scope to increase Bangladesh's exports to the Indian market, according to the minister.

However, he said there are some barriers on India's side affecting bilateral trade. Bangladesh has also created some obstacles of its own over the past two years, he added.

Muktadir also told parliament about a recent visit to Bangladesh by an Indian business delegation.

The delegation proposed forming a task force with Bangladeshi businesspeople to work on infrastructure development, he said, adding that the government had expressed interest in the proposal.

Explaining why Bangladesh imports more from India, the minister said a large portion of imports is made by the private sector rather than the government.

Businesses import from whichever source offers products at competitive prices, he said.

In a written response to a question from BNP MP Lutfur Rahman, Muktadir also provided figures for Bangladesh's trade deficit with India over the past five fiscal years.

The deficit stood at $7.31 billion in 2020-21, rising to $11.70 billion in 2021-22.
It fell to $7.72 billion in 2022-23 and stood at $7.431 billion in 2023-24. The deficit rose again to $7.86 billion in 2024-25.�"bdnews24.com