Staff Reporter :
The country’s trade deficit has increased by $62.80 crore in July, while export earnings grew by 36.18 per cent year-on-year in August.
The trade deficit stood at $198.10 crore in July, the first month of the current fiscal year, which was $62.80 crore higher than the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, according to Bangladesh Bank data published on Sunday.
The deficit was $135.30 crore in July of last fiscal year (2021-22), the BB’s latest data showed. The trade deficit crossed $33 billion mark in the outgoing fiscal year.
“The trade deficit widens as the export growth against import of goods and service is not rising accordingly. Besides, increase in imported commodities prices has also fueled the trade deficit,” Dr Zahid Hussain, former lead economist of the World Bank Dhaka office, told The New Nation.
“Bangladesh Bank has taken some restriction measures in order to rein in import cost. But, it will take time to fall impact on reducing the cost,” he said.
He further said, “Opening of letter of credits (LCs) for raw materials of export-oriented sectors has been decreased in recent time. That means the export may fall further in days to come.”
Meanwhile, Bangladesh earned $4.60 billion through exports with a 36.18 per cent year-on-year growth, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.
The country fetched $3.38 billion in export earnings in the same period of the last fiscal year, the data said.
The apparel sector, 84 per cent contributor to the country’s export earnings, bagged $3.74 billion with a healthy year-on-year growth of 36.04 per cent, up from $2.75 billion
of the same period in last fiscal year. Among apparel products, knitwear registered a growth of 20.15 per cent to $3.91 billion from $2.25 billion in the same period of last year, while woven garments saw a growth of 34.23 per cent to $3.19 billion from $2.38 billion, the EPB data showed.
Home textiles, the new player in the export basket which claimed the second position in the last year, registered a growth of 53.39 per cent to $268.52 million, which was $175.06 million in the aforesaid period of the last fiscal year.
Agricultural products, however, registered a negative growth of 14 per cent to $178.22 million, from $207.23 million in the last fiscal year.
Leather and leather goods posted a growth of 27.77 per cent to $223.23 million, which was $174.71 million in the same period of the last FY, EPB data showed.
Engineering products, another promising export sector of the country, marked a growth of 40 per cent to $99.89 million from $71.35 million last year.
Jute and jute products, which logged negative growth in all months of last fiscal year, finally lit a light of hope registering a growth of 22.67 per cent to $156.61 million, which was $127.67 million in the same period of last fiscal year.
Mohiuddin Rubel, Director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said that the global geopolitical tension and volatile economic impact caused by that has already started to affect Bangladesh’s exports.
With rising inflation, consumer demand in western market has been reducing and this has been reflected in the export scenario, he said, adding that the total RMG export in August was $3.7 billion, whereas it was almost $4.1 billion in June earlier this year.
He also said that starting from June, RMG export growth has started to decline and both in July and August 2022, it has been less than June’s export.
“The coming months look gloomy since some of the major brands are holding back their orders recently due to excess overstock. So, we are rather being more careful and vigilant than being complacent,” he added.
In the concluded FY22, Bangladesh bagged $52.08 billion through exports, registering a 34.38 per cent year-on-year growth. This marked the first time in history that export earnings crossed the milestone of $50 billion.
