The government plans to revise its projection of preliminary export growth for the new fiscal year to 4.0 per cent in view of the lower earnings against the target set for the just-concluded fiscal year (FY), officials have said.
At the rate of 4.0 per cent growth, the proceeds from exports will stand at US$ 32.5 billion (3,250 crore).
A month ago the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) proposed that the ministry of commerce (MoC) set the export growth target at 7.49 per cent to $ 33.65 billion for the FY 2015-16.
But after the end of the fiscal year, it was found that exporters could achieve only 3.35 per cent growth compared to the previous fiscal year.
For the FY 2014-15, the export growth target was set at 9.98 per cent to $ 33.2 billion.
When contacted, EPB vice-chairman Shubhashish Bose told the FE that revision of the projected growth was under consideration as the euro zone crisis prolongs.
"The ongoing recession in European Union has resulted in slump in prices of products. So, we are seriously taking the issue into consideration before setting the export growth target for the current fiscal year," he added.
Mr Bose also said nearly 54 per cent of total export earnings come from the euro zone. The present situation of the bloc was a matter of grave concern for the exporting countries, he said.
He further said the depreciation of Russian rubble against the US dollar also slowed down export proceeds in the last fiscal year.
Asked whether it would be possible to achieve the $50 billion apparel export target by 2021, if the growth rate continued to stay at the stage, Mr Bose said the situation might change in the coming days.
"The prospect for apparels is bright. We supply 40 basic garments to the EU which can be raised to 50 per cent easily," he expressed his hope.
Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Mustafizur Rahman told the FE that export in the month of June 2015 increased by 8.68 per cent compared to the same month of the previous fiscal year and it was a good sign.
However, he saw a gloomy export prospect for Bangladesh on slow recovery of the euro zone from recession, the prolonged crisis in Greece and signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement by several pacific countries.
Mr Rahman said the government might set the single-digit export growth target, taking into cognizance all these market realities.
He, however, said 4.0 per cent growth target in no way was acceptable for a country like Bangladesh.
"Country's overall economic growth, boosting of manufacturing sector and employment creation are closely dependent on export growth. If we can't raise the growth, we may fall behind in achieving the targets set in the draft of the seventh five-year plan," Mr Rahman said.
He suggested market and product diversification to raise the export growth instead of depending on traditional markets and the thin product basket.
When contacted, president of Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) Abdus Salam Murshedy was hopeful of achieving higher growth in the current fiscal year as the country's political crisis is over.
"Political crisis in the last fiscal has seriously hampered production. Besides, the activities of Alliance and Accord, two platforms of buyers, have disturbed production in many factories. I think we will be able to attain a handsome growth in the current fiscal year," he said.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
