Export earnings fall short of target in Q1

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FE Report
Bangladesh's earnings from merchandise exports fell short of target by 17.65 per cent during the first quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal over the corresponding period of the last fiscal.
The country exported products worth US$ 3077.09 million during the July-September period of fiscal 2007-08 against the target of $ 3736 million, latest official figures showed.
The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) statistics, however, revealed that the export receipts in the Q1 of the current fiscal were 5.37 per cent lower than the amount in the corresponding period of FY 2006-07.
The country's export earnings during Q1 of last fiscal were recorded at $ 3251.84 million.
Such a significant fall in the Q1 earnings has mainly been attributed to poor export performances of major sectors namely woven garments, knitwear and frozen foods, the figures suggested.
The poor export receipts have also reflected the country's ongoing slow pace in the trade and economic activities.
Exports receipts from woven garments fell short of target by 7.02 per cent during the July-September period of the FY 2007-08 over the same period of FY 2006-07.
The country earned $ 1116 million through exporting woven garment in the Q1 of the current fiscal against the target of $ 1200 billion.
The Q1 export receipt from woven garments also declined by 11.86 per cent over the matching period of last fiscal, the statistics showed.
Export earning from the local knitwear items during the last July-September period also fell short of target by 14.49 per cent. Besides, the Q1 earnings from the knitwear products also decreased by 3.61 per cent over the matching period of last fiscal.
The knitwear sector fetched $ 1204.25 million during the first three months of the current fiscal while the figure was $ 1249.34 million in the same period of last fiscal.
The country earned $ 141.77 million by exporting frozen foods during the July-September period of FY 2007-08, which was 8.31 per cent lower than the target and 7.35 per cent down from the Q1 earnings of last fiscal.
Moreover, exports earning from leather, handicraft items, engineering products also fell short of their targets significantly.
On the other hand, exports receipts from the sectors like agri products, tea, raw jute, footwear, jute goods and home textile registered growths during Q1 of the current fiscal, figures showed.
Meanwhile, the export target has been set at $14.5 billion for the current fiscal, reflecting a 19 per cent growth over the receipts in the FY 2006-07.
The country fetched $12.8 billion against the export target of $ 12.5 billion in the last fiscal.