An apparel factory in Bangladesh. Photo: BBN
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s export earnings jumped by nearly 27 per cent in July due to higher shipments of apparel products, according to official statistics, released on Wednesday.
The overall export earnings rose to $3.21 billion in July, the first month of the ongoing fiscal year (FY) 2017-18 from $2.53 billion in the same month of last fiscal year, the state-run Export Promotion Bureau (EPB)’s latest data showed.
Garment covering both knitwear and woven shipments brought home $2.48 billion in July, up by 17.08 per cent year-on-year.
The receipt from apparel exports was also 4.83 per cent below the monthly target of $2.60 billion, the data showed.
Home-textile exports grew by 60.31 per cent to $63.77 million compared to the same month of July of the last fiscal.
Export earnings from frozen and live fishes stood at $59.42 million, marking a 57.32 per cent growth.
Agricultural products, leather and leather products, plastic and furniture recorded 12.92 per cent, 26.19 per cent, 13.70 per cent and 156 per cent growth respectively.
Jute and jute goods, on the other hand, posted a 7.51 per cent negative growth with earnings of $64.53 million during the month. The earnings were 29.18 per cent less than the targeted $91.12 million.
Exporters said amid continuous negative growth it was a good news for the apparel and clothing sector that it achieved double digit positive growth in July.
There were two main reasons for the growth– one, some of the seasonal goods shipped at a time in the month of July and second, orders increased as the capacity of Accord and Alliance approved factories increased, they added.
Bangladesh government had set the export target for the FY 18 at $37.50 billion, up by 7.65 per cent from the last fiscal year’s receipts.
BBN/SSR/AD