1st week of April sees 77.76% fall in garment export from corresponding week in 2019
Garment export earning in the first week of April fell by 77.76 percent to $129.40 million compared to the corresponding week of the last year, according to data from Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) yesterday.
Export revenue from garment was $581.93 million in the first week (April 1 to April 7) in 2018.
The apparel export has also declined on a monthly basis.
In March, the garment export decreased by 30.19 percent to $1.97 billion compared to the same month last year, when earnings from apparel export was $2.82billion, the data said.
BGMEA also said monthly garment export will decline by 70 percent in April to $972.95million compared to April 2019. In April last year the earning from the apparel export was $2.53billion.
The data projected that in May it will be the same, with monthly export set to fall by 70 percent to $972 million, compared to $3.24 billion in May 2019.
So, the cumulative export of garment items in the three months between March and May this year will see a 56.93 percent drop from the corresponding period in 2019 to $3.70 billion compared to the same period last year, when the three months netted $8.60billion.
The loss of export in three months is set to be $4.90 billion — a 40 percent export loss year on year will also affect the settlement of back to back LCs by $1.96 billion, the BGMEA data also said.
Factories will have to carry unsettled liabilities for the export which have been forecast to be cancelled.
“Along with salaries we are liable for the back to back payments. At this point of time with 77.76percent export falling, we have to brave the storm that’s hitting us now. At this pace, we will be further hit by $1.96 billion dollars of import,” said Rubana Huq, BGMEA president.