Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
Country’s export earnings for the first nine months (July-March) of the current fiscal reached $22.24 billion, surpassing the official target set for the period, according to an official figure.
Earlier, the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) had set an export target of $30.50 billion for the fiscal 2013-14 and of which, the target for the July-March was set at $ 22.06 billion.
The figure released by the EPB on Thursday also shows that the country’s overall export rose by 12.88 per cent during the July-March period of the current fiscal compared with the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Bangladesh earned $ 19.70 billion during the July-March period of the fiscal 2012-13.
Trade officials said, the country’s export remained buoyant on back of strong shipment performance from the ready-made garment (RMG).
“Our exports remained stable and recorded satisfactory growth during the said period, capitalizing growing apparel shipments,” Subhasish Bose, vice-chairman of EPB told The New Nation yesterday.
He added: Other export sectors also did well helping to surpass the export target set for the period.
During the nine months knitwear exports increased 16.40 per cent to reach $ 8.83 billion, while woven exports 13.99 per cent to reach $9.22 billion. Export earnings from knitwear was recorded
at $7.58 billion and woven garment at $ 8.09 billion during the nine months of the previous fiscal, EPB data shows.
Subasish Bose said, the garment sector suffered from the recent volatile political situation, with the drop in export orders and shipment cancellation, however, recovered strongly taking advantage of the ongoing stability in the country’s political arena. “This has ultimately reflected on the country’s overall export earnings,” he added.
Garment exports account for around 80 per cent of the country’s total exports.
The EPB figure also shows that significant rise was also recorded in footwear, ceramic products, furniture, frozen foods, vegetables, pharmaceuticals and leather that contributed to the overall export growth during the period.
Footwear showed 31.69 per cent growth, leather 39.95 per cent, pharmaceuticals 22.23 per cent, ceramic products 29.91 per cent, furniture 33.88 per cent, frozen foods 25.02 per cent and vegetables 39.15.
On the other hand, jute and jute goods, a potential export sector of the country, continued to show negative growth. The export earnings of the sector touched $612 million during the July-March period of the current fiscal, showing a 20 per cent fall in shipments, compared to the same period a year ago.
