Bangladesh has posted around 12.6 percent growth with a quarter of 2018-19 fiscal year left on strong earnings from the readymade garments. 

The export earnings in the first nine months (July to March) of the financial year were around $31 billion, according to Export Promotion Bureau data released on Sunday.    

The figure exceeded the projection of $28.83 billion by 7.2 percent and the exports of the same period last fiscal year by 12.57 percent, according to the bureau.

Total exports of the financial year will beat the estimate if the growth continues, FBCCI President Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin believes.

The apex trade body’s chief, however, thinks challenges for the exporters remain.

Many of them were “facing existential crisis” due to higher interest rate of loans from the World Bank and a drop in commodity prices in the global market, he told bdnews24.com.

The government should take more care of different sectors while the exporters should produce new products and explore new markets, he added.

The growth in exports has been helped by the earnings from the apparel sector as usual. Bangladesh exported garments worth around $26 billion in the first three quarters of the fiscal year, marking a 13.65 percent growth.

Leather and jute exports, however, missed targets. Bangladesh exported leather goods worth over $771 million in July-March period against $848 million earnings in the same time last fiscal year.

Speaking to bdnews24.com, Bangladesh Tanners Association President Shaheen Ahmed blamed the US-China trade war for the slump in exports.

Exports of jute and jute products have dropped to $628 million from last year’s $818 million by 23 percent.

Published On : 08-04-2019

Source : Bdnews 24