Export earnings of the country crossed a new milestone for the first time to stand at $50.37 billion in the period from July 1 to June 25 last fiscal year riding on the readymade garment (RMG) despite global crisis.
The overall export earnings also surpassed the set target of $43.50 billion for the fiscal year 2021-22, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.
The country’s export earnings in FY21 grew by 15.10 percent to $38.76 billion from $33.67 billion in FY20,
An expert said that the export earnings have grown from both RMG and non-RMG sides which is a good sign for the country.
Professor Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said, “The export earnings have significantly increased due to export diversification. Both the demand side and supply side have contributed to this growth.”
AHM Ahsan, Vice-Chairman of EPB, said, “We have received information about the last 25 days of June (June 1 to 25) of the last month of the fiscal year. In these 25 days, 3.20 billion dollars worth of goods has been exported. It shows that our exports have already crossed the $50 billion milestones and reached $50.37 billion. If the remaining 5 days of the month are added, the total export of goods in the last fiscal year will reach about $51 billion.”
He also said that if service exports were added, it may cross $58 billion this year breaking all the previous records.
Despite global inflation and the Russia-Ukraine war, this trend of robust exports may continue in the new fiscal year (2022-23) if no major incidents occur, Ahsan said.
“Now the country's main challenge is to diversify our export basket as 80 percent of exports depend on a single product (RMG). There are enough plans and initiatives underway to transform this image,” Ahsan mentioned.
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said, “The growth figures in recent months, however, cannot be misjudged and over-generalized as the advanced economies are heading toward economic recession. Inflation in the EU and USA has crossed records. Euro is losing value against US dollars. Both global trade and economic growth forecasts by a recent report by the World Bank depict a depressive picture. So while we need to be optimistic about our trade and industry, we need to take cautious steps.”
According to various statistics, Bangladesh is now one of the top 50 exporters in the world. This position stands in the top 20 in Asia. In South Asia, Bangladesh is just behind India.
However, Bangladesh’s readymade garment (RMG) exports have surpassed the $35.14 billion target for the current fiscal 2021-22 within the first 10 months as the country showed economic stability despite the global crisis.
Exporters said the export order in the RMG sector has rapidly increased on continuing global demand, and the leveraging of anti-China sentiments especially in the US market helped to maintain this strong growth.
Besides, the country can provide quality products at a low cost which attracts foreign buyers to invest more here, they added.
The country’s export earnings stood at $38.52 billion from the ready-made garments (RMG) in July-May this fiscal, up around 34.87 percent over the previous fiscal. The earnings were $28.56 billion during the same period in the 2020-21 fiscal year.
