The banking sector will see ease in payment pressure for imports in the coming months as new LC (Letter of Credit) opening fell by 31% in July, according to provisional data of the Bangladesh Bank.

In July, the total LC opening was $5.47 billion, down from $7.9 billion in June, central bank data shows.

The LC opening picked up to nearly $10 billion in March amid huge business activities in the post-pandemic era creating payment pressure on banks.

However, imports started to slow down from June after the Bangladesh Bank tighten import policies to save foreign exchange reserves amid rising dollar price.

The dollar rate for import LC went up to Tk105 per dollar in July but bankers assumed that price will come down in the next month as LC opening of most banks almost halved in July.