Written by The Banking Post
Bangladesh Bank is set to roll out a new reporting feature — the ‘Commercial Invoice’ tab — in its Online Import Monitoring System (OIMS) from November 1, 2025, aiming to further simplify and streamline the country’s import process.
In a circular issued Wednesday, the central bank said Authorized Dealer (AD) banks will now be required to upload detailed data from commercial invoices and related documents into the OIMS. The move is part of ongoing efforts to improve transparency and accuracy in foreign trade reporting.
The directive, issued under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947, and the Bank Company Act, 1991, makes the new tab a mandatory reporting requirement for ADs.
To ensure a smooth transition, banks have been instructed to follow specific reporting procedures detailed in the OIMS guideline manual, available under Documents > Other Documents/Guidelines > Commercial Invoice Data Entry/Upload Manual.
The central bank said the OIMS is already operating efficiently, having been linked with the National Board of Revenue’s (NBR) online systems through an Application Programming Interface (API) — a connection that has significantly improved data sharing and verification across institutions.
With the addition of the new tab, Bangladesh Bank expects to further enhance import monitoring and trade facilitation, reducing paperwork and boosting compliance across the financial sector.
