Export earnings have shown remarkable growth following remittances.
Amidst the global recession, exports of manufactured garments showed a 5.89 percent increase, and only in January, the exports stood at USD 5.13 billion.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau's (EPB) latest export statistics for July–January in FY 2022-23, such information was highlighted on Thursday.
During this period, overall apparel exports increased by 14.31 percent to USD 27.41 billion from USD 23.98 billion in FY 2022–23.
The knitwear items export reached USD 14.96 billion, while woven items reached USD 12.45 billion, registering 12.70 percent and 16.30 percent growth, respectively. So, growth in the woven sector is comparatively higher than that in knitwear.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Director MohiuddinRubel told Bangladesh Post, "If we consider the single month, in January 2023 our export earnings were USD 4.42 billion with 8.24 percent growth compared to the same month in 2022."
"Though we are maintaining over USD 4 billion in export earnings for the last few months, there are so many challenges behind this strong performance. Because the global economic outlook indicates a slowdown in 2023 and global inflation hits a record high. New orders have also fallen in most of our factories. So we need to prepare ourselves to face any kind of unprecedented situation in the future," he added.
According to EPB data, compared to 2022, the export income has increased, but the export income has decreased by 2.10 percent from the target. In the month of January of the current financial year, the target of Bangladesh’s product exports on the world market was USD 5.24 billion and the export earnings stood at USD 5.13 billion.
A sector-wise review showed that in the seven months from July to January, ready-made garments worth USD 27.41 billion were exported, that is 84.50 percent of the total export earnings. Compared to the last financial year, the growth in this sector has been 14.31 percent. Similarly, there has been an increase of 7.37 percent in leather products and 40.10 percent in plastic products.
Compared to the same period last year, agricultural products have decreased by 25.86 percent, frozen fish by 22.39 percent, handicrafts by 34.10 percent, jute products by 21.22 percent, and glass products by 47.88 percent. Export earnings targeted for FY 2022–2023 is $58 billion.
According to the data of Bangladesh Bank, remittances returned to a positive trend in the month of January. Expatriates sent remittances of US$ 1.95 billion in January. In local currency (at 107 taka per dollar) this amount is almost Tk 21000 crore.
According to the data of the Central Bank, USD 2.5 million more remittances came to the country in January than in December. In December, remittances to the country reached USD 1.69 billion.
