CPD RMG Study Stitching a better future for Bangladesh
Published in Dhaka Tribune on November 9, 2017
The country’s overall export earnings stood at $34.83 billion in FY16/17
The export earnings of Bangladesh rose by over 7% in the first four months of Fiscal Year 2017-18 to $11.50 billion, the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) revealed on Thursday.
The earning is 7.03% higher than the $10.75 billion earned in July-October the previous fiscal year.
However, it is 0.7% less than the target of $11.60 billion set for the period.
“This is a good sign for Bangladesh that export earnings are on the rise,” Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB), said.
“But as an exporter I am unhappy with the growth rate as it is failing to meet our expectations.”
The ready-made garments sector was again the highest export earner, grossing $9.43 billion – a 7% increase on the $8.82 billion earned in Q1 of the previous FY.
Woven products earned $4.45 billion, a year-on-year rise of 3.85%; while the knitwear industry earned nearly $5 billion, posting 9.95% growth.
In the last financial year, Bangladesh’s export earnings from the apparel industry saw only a 0.2% rise to $28.15 billion – the lowest growth of the previous 15 years.
The country’s overall export earnings stood at $34.83 billion in FY16/17.
In October 2017, export earnings rose by 6.42% and stood 6.28% higher than the single month target of $2.67 billion.
“Bangladesh needs over 13% growth in export earnings to achieve its target of $50 billion by 2021,” Murshedy said.
“Bangladeshi entrepreneurs have already spent a huge amount of money to improve the safety standards but did not raise the price of their products which is an additional pressure for them.”
