Oct export earnings fall short of target
Friday, 11 December 2009
Monira Munni
The country's monthly export earnings in October fell 20 per cent than the strategic export target, mainly driven down by poor performance of major export items.
The country earned U$1.02 billion against the strategic target of U$ 1.27 billion for October.
The country fetched US$ 4897.70 million in exports during the July-October period of fiscal year 2009-10 (FY10), down by US$ 705.38 million from the target, data revealed by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) showed.
"Shipments of almost all major export items have witnessed bitter performance in October," an EPB official told the FE.
Though the monthly performance fell compared to the target, but it was higher by 18 per cent than the same period of last fiscal year, he added.
According to the recent data revealed by the government entity on export promotion and marketing, export earnings from knitwear goods at the end of the first four months of FY10 witnessed a fall of 4.28 per cent from the corresponding period in the last fiscal, earning $2094.40 million.
Similar fall was also recorded in the earnings from the country's woven goods, slipping down by a net 7.32 per cent, with earnings of $1684.39 million, the data further showed.
Besides, other prime exportable items like frozen food, leather and leather goods, ceramic products and tea were all in the negative territory, it added.
President of Bangladesh Garments Manufactures and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Abdus Salam Murshedy termed the negative growth performance in apparel sector as the continuity of what the sector witnessed for the last couple of months.
"Our growth has been sliding down since the end of first quarter 2009 calendar year. Latest performance explains the situation has further deteriorated," the BGMEA president said.
This might be unexpected to many, but not to us. We have been forecasting this for a long time, he said.
As the impact of financial recession kept on tightening, orders gradually kept shrinking and pressures kept mounting for price reduction, Mr Murshedy explained.
The country's monthly export earnings in October fell 20 per cent than the strategic export target, mainly driven down by poor performance of major export items.
The country earned U$1.02 billion against the strategic target of U$ 1.27 billion for October.
The country fetched US$ 4897.70 million in exports during the July-October period of fiscal year 2009-10 (FY10), down by US$ 705.38 million from the target, data revealed by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) showed.
"Shipments of almost all major export items have witnessed bitter performance in October," an EPB official told the FE.
Though the monthly performance fell compared to the target, but it was higher by 18 per cent than the same period of last fiscal year, he added.
According to the recent data revealed by the government entity on export promotion and marketing, export earnings from knitwear goods at the end of the first four months of FY10 witnessed a fall of 4.28 per cent from the corresponding period in the last fiscal, earning $2094.40 million.
Similar fall was also recorded in the earnings from the country's woven goods, slipping down by a net 7.32 per cent, with earnings of $1684.39 million, the data further showed.
Besides, other prime exportable items like frozen food, leather and leather goods, ceramic products and tea were all in the negative territory, it added.
President of Bangladesh Garments Manufactures and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Abdus Salam Murshedy termed the negative growth performance in apparel sector as the continuity of what the sector witnessed for the last couple of months.
"Our growth has been sliding down since the end of first quarter 2009 calendar year. Latest performance explains the situation has further deteriorated," the BGMEA president said.
This might be unexpected to many, but not to us. We have been forecasting this for a long time, he said.
As the impact of financial recession kept on tightening, orders gradually kept shrinking and pressures kept mounting for price reduction, Mr Murshedy explained.