A file photo shows workers sewing clothes at a readymade garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka. Export earnings of the country went up by 17.24 per cent year-on-year in July-November of the current fiscal year (2018-2019), riding on higher shipments of RMG products. — New Age photo
Export earnings of the country went up by 17.24 per cent year-on-year in July-November of the current fiscal year (2018-2019), riding on higher shipments of readymade garment products compared with that in the same period of last fiscal year (2017-2018).
Country’s export earnings jumped to $17.07 billion in the five months in FY19 from $14.56 billion in the same period of FY18 when export grew by 6.86 per cent year-on-year, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data released on Wednesday.
Export performance of the country has maintained a healthy growth every month since July, the first month of the fiscal year, except in August when export earnings dropped by 11.74 per cent due to suspension of production and shipments of products for about 10 days during Eid-ul-Azha holidays.
In November this year, the earnings stood at $3.42 billion, up 11.94 per cent on $3.05 billion posted in the same month of last year, the EPB data showed.
Earnings from export of goods were $3.71 billion in October, which is a single-month record of the country.
In July-November, RMG export grew by 18.59 per cent while export earnings from some major sectors like jute and jute goods, leather and frozen fish declined.
Experts and exporters attributed the healthy growth to a surge in shipments of apparel products due to shift of orders to Bangladesh amid the ongoing US-China trade war and the growing confidence of buyers on Bangladeshi RMG products following an improvement in workplace safety issues.
They said that seasonal demand for apparel products and low rate of growth in July-November of last year might have also contributed to the growth in July-November of this year.
Centre for Policy Dialogue research director Khondaker Golam Moazzem told New Age that the ongoing trade dispute between the US and China put some positive impact on Bangladesh’s export as it got additional export orders for finished goods mainly RMG.
The trade war, however, might have affected the country’s export of raw materials like leather, he said, adding that jute and jute goods exports dropped due to anti-dumping duty imposed by India on Bangladeshi products.
He said that low rate of growth (6.86 per cent year-on-year) in July-November of last year might also put an impact on the growth rate figure.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Md Siddiqur Rahman, however, said that the enhanced capacity of local exporters and improved workplace safety contributed most to the healthy growth rather than US-China dispute.
‘We are getting more orders because of our capacity improvement rather than the trade war,’ he said.
He said that the working environment in factories was safer now as manufacturers made huge investment to improve fire, building and electrical safety in workplace.
Ports now remain open 24 hours in every day of a week while there is political stability in the country, he said.
The EPB data showed that earnings from RMG export in July-November of FY19 grew by 18.59 per cent to $14.19 billion compared with that of $11.96 billion posted in the same period of FY18.
Export earnings from the woven in the five months of FY19 grew by 20.33 per cent to $6.88 billion from $5.72 billion in the same period of FY18.
Earnings from knitwear export increased by 17 per cent to $7.31 billion from $6.24 billion.
The EPB data showed that export earnings from jute and jute goods in July-November of FY19 fell by 22.09 per cent to $351.5 million from $451.15 million in the same period of FY18.
Earnings from frozen shrimps declined by 21.07 per cent to $189.47 million.
Export of agriculture products in five months of FY19 grew by 76.64 per cent to $458.64 million from $259.65 million in the same period of last fiscal year.
The EPB data showed that exports of leather and leather products fell by 16.11 per cent to $434.7 million from $518.15 million.
Export earnings from leather-footwear increased by 4.54 per cent to $264.28 million while leather products fetched $94.18 million with a 49.02-per cent negative growth in the period.
Source: New Age.