A worker is working at a RMG factory in Bangladesh. Photo: BBN
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s export earnings grew by nearly 14 per cent during the first two months of the ongoing fiscal year (FY) 2017-18 following higher shipments of apparel products.
The overall export earnings rose to US$6.62 billion in the July-August period of the FY 18 from $5.82 billion in the same month of last fiscal year, the state-run Export Promotion Bureau (EPB)’s latest data showed.
The receipt from apparel exports was also 4.83 per cent below the monthly target of $2.60 billion, the data showed.
The earnings also surpassed by 7.96 per cent of the target of $6.14 billion set for the period under review, according to the official figures, released on Sunday.
The single month earnings in August 2017 stood at $3.64 billion, marking a 10.71 per cent growth against the earnings amounting to $3.28 billion in the same month of last year.
Officials and exporters termed the growth a good sign, saying that euro rebounded against US dollar in recent months, and Bangladesh exporters to the European markets reaped benefit out of it.
Earnings from readymade garment covering both knitwear and woven increased by more than 14 per cent to $5.52 billion during the period under review from $4.84 billion in the same period of the FY 17.
Bangladesh earned $2.86 billion from knitwear export during the period, which marked an increase of 16.02 per cent compared to that of $2.47 billion in the same period a year ago.
The earning from woven garments in the first two months of FY 18 grew by 11.99 per cent to $2.65 billion, from $2.37 billion in the same period of the last fiscal.
Bangladesh’s export earnings from the US market, the single largest export destination, increased by 10.23 per cent to $1.10 billion during July-August of current FY from $997.51 million in the same period of last fiscal, the EPB data showed.
Export earnings from the second largest destination - Germany - grew by 8.78 per cent to $1.06 billion during the period under review from $976.51 million in the same period of FY 17.
Export earnings from the UK, the third largest export destination for Bangladesh, increased by 29.30 per cent to $783.81 million in the first two months of FY 18 from $606.16 million in the same period of FY 17.
The EPB data also showed that earnings from jute and jute goods during the July-August period of current fiscal grew by 10.34 per cent to $155.31 million from $140.75 million in the same period of FY 17.
The country fetched $248.16 million from leather and leather product exports in the first two months of FY 18, marking a 9.54 per cent growth while earnings from frozen food and fish grew by 39.64 per cent to $124.99 million.
BBN/SSR/AD