Exports up by 12.88pc in last 9 months

Country's export earning in the first three quarters of the current 2013-14 fiscal year (July 2013- March 2014) increased by 12.88 per cent to 22.24 billion US dollars. The readymade garment sector was the key performer of the growth, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data released Thursday.

In the first nine months of the previous 2012-13 fiscal year (July 2012-June 2013), Bangladesh exports grew by 10.16 per cent to $19,703.94 million, the EPB data showed.

According to the latest EPB data, export earnings for March alone were $2,413.42 million, 4.79 per cent higher than the corresponding period last year. But the export income during the period is 9.25 per cent less than the target of $2.65 billion. The overall export growth has been largely driven by readymade garment sector despite it has been facing problems in

 key global markets due to last April's worst ever industrial tragedy in which a total of 1,131 people, mostly garment workers died.

In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the official said that knitwear garment export grew 16.40 per cent to 8.830. 97 million US dollars while woven garments increased by 13.99 per cent to 9,221.72 million U.S. dollars, compared to the same period of last fiscal year.