Bangladesh sees 15.26% growth in July export earnings

The export earnings of Bangladesh in the first month (July) of the current fiscal year (FY24) witnessed a healthy growth of 15.26% from the same time of last year, totaling $4,592.92 million. The export earnings in July of 2022 were $3,984.82 million.

According to the latest statistics of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the export earnings in July were also 2.50% higher than the strategic export target of $4,481 million set for the month.

Faruque Hassan, the President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said, "Such good news at the very begging of  the current fiscal year is very much positive for us. Attainment of such growth will encourage us further to accomplish our tasks despite the worldwide unrest,"

Explaining about the reasons for higher export growth, he said that the price of unit-wise RMG items has increased while the export earnings have increased due to the higher price although there were less procurement orders.

The BGMEA president said that the manufacturers are now producing high-end products for which diversification has been brought into the products.

Apart from this, he said that the export of RMG items has been increasing in new destinations like South Korea, Japan, Australia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) which has been playing a significant role in overall expansion of export earnings.

Citing data of RMG exports by the World Trade Organization (WTO) released yesterday, Faruque said that the RMG market share of Bangladesh in the world has increased last year, which is very good news for the local manufacturers.

"The export of RMG items last year were $11 billion higher than the previous year as the global market share of Bangladesh's RMG items was 6.37% in 2021 which increased to 7.87% in 2022," he added.

The BGMEA president, however, suggested the government for simplifying further the VAT and customs related services to maintain the higher growth trajectory.

According to EPB data, the export of RMG items in July this year experienced a healthy growth of 17.43% fetching $3,953.74 million.

Out of that, the single-month export of knitwear bagged the highest amount of $2,266.48 million with a 22.24% growth while the export of woven garments received $1,687.26 million having a growth of 11.54%.

The performances of other major exportable items in July were primary commodities with $103.98 million, agriculture products with $72.58 million, manufactured commodities with $4,488.94 million, plastic products with $16.76 million, leather and leather products with $98.74 million, jute and jute-made goods with $65.67 million, home textiles with $56.83 million.