Earnings from the country's merchandise exports in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY), 2018-19, increased to US$ 30.90 billion, registering a modest growth of about 13 per cent over the same period of the previous fiscal.
The country fetched $27.45 billion during the July-March period of FY 2017-18.
The export performance exceeded the nine-month target by 7.20 per cent this fiscal year, according to official data released on Sunday.
The single-month earnings in March last grew by 9.35 per cent to $ 3.34 billion from $ 3.05 billion in the same month of last year, the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data show.
The performance in March also surpassed the target set for the month by 2.37 per cent.
Earnings from the export of readymade garments (RMG) during the July-March period of the current FY grew by 13.65 per cent to $ 25.95 billion from $ 22.83 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal.
The earnings also surpassed the nine-month target by 7.40 per cent.
From knitwear exports, the country earned $ 12.80 billion during the period under review, marking a growth of 13.07 per cent, compared to $ 11.32 billion in the corresponding period of the last FY.
Earnings from the export of woven garments rose by 14.22 per cent to $ 13.15 billion from $11.51 billion in the same period of the last FY.
On the other hand, the earnings from home textile exports fell by 3.36 per cent to $ 647.34 million. The figure also fell short of the nine-month target by 6.83 per cent.
When asked, Mahmud Hasan Khan, vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), termed the overall growth satisfactory.
Woven garment export grew in the US market in the wake of trade war between China and the US, as the latter shifting orders to other destinations, including Bangladesh, he added.
He, however, claimed that local value addition in the RMG sector and profit margin are declining gradually.
The jute sector has demonstrated a weak export performance in the July-March period of the current FY.
Earnings from the exports of jute and jute goods fell by 23.23 per cent to $ 628.08 million from $ 818.09 million in the same period of the last fiscal year.
The country fetched $ 771.69 million from exports of leather and leather goods in the first nine months of FY '19, registering a 9.08 per cent decline over the same period of last fiscal.
Earnings from leather footwear export, however, increased 7.86 per cent to $ 458.76 million in the July-March period.
Frozen and live fish exports also edged up 2.77 per cent to $ 419 million in the same period of the current fiscal year, according to the data.
[email protected]
