Export earnings grow 13.39pc in July-Jan period of FY ’19

Earnings from the country's merchandise exports in the first seven months of the current fiscal year (FY) stood at US$ 24.17 billion, marking a 13.39 per cent growth over the corresponding period of last fiscal, according to official data.
The exports fetched $21.32 billion during the July-January period of FY 2017-18.
The export performance was 7.91 per cent higher than the target set for the seven-month period of this FY, data showed.
The single month earnings in January last grew by 7.95 per cent to $3.67 billion from $3.40 billion in the same month last year, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data released on Wednesday.
The January performance also surpassed the target set for the month by 1.59 per cent.
The earnings from export of readymade garments (RMG) during the July-January period of the current FY grew by 14.51 per cent to $20.21 billion from $17.65 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal, according to the EPB data.
The earnings also surpassed the target by 7.65 per cent.
The country earned $10.14 billion from knitwear exports during the period under review. It marked a growth of 13.86 per cent compared to $8.90 billion in the corresponding period of the last FY.
Export of woven garments in the first seven months of FY'19 grew by 15.18 per cent to $10.07 billion, from $8.74 billion in the same period of the last FY.
The earnings from home textile exports witnessed a slight fall by 0.79 per cent to $490.2 million during the period. Earnings from home textile, also, fell short of the target by 9.23 per cent during the period.
When asked, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Md Siddiqur Rahman termed the RMG export growth 'good' and attributed it to the safety measures taken by the industry.
The entrepreneurs have invested huge amount of money in workplace safety remediation and setting up environment-friendly factories, he said.
All those efforts have helped regain the buyers' confidence and encouraged them to source products from Bangladesh, he said, adding these work also helped improve the image of the country as well as the sector.
He, however, demanded government's support at least for one to two years in implementing the new wage structure, seeking 3.0 per cent cash incentive for readymade garment exporters to help remain competitive and increase the export volumes.
The earnings from jute and jute goods in July-January period of the current FY continued to decline as it fell by 24.66 per cent to $498.66 million from $661.86 million in the same period of the last fiscal year.
The country earned $626.42 million from exports of leather and leather products in the first half of FY '19, marking an 11.71 per cent negative growth during the period.
Earnings from leather footwear grew 7.35 per cent to $384.30 million in the July-January period.
Frozen and live fish exports in the first seven months of the current FY witnessed 2.01 per cent growth to $361.09 million during the same period of the current fiscal year, according to data.
When asked, Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association (BFFEA) President Md Aminulllah identified traditional farming, low production of local species 'bagda' and failure to compete with low-priced, small-sized vannamei for the 12.37 per cent negative growth of shrimp exports.
He also demanded policy support to increase bagda cultivation and switching over semi-intensive shrimp cultivation and introducing the vannamei cultivation to be competitive in the global market.

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