Export earnings fetch 14.70% growth in July

The country's merchandise export earnings maintained a healthy growth in the first month (July) of the current fiscal year (FY23), registering over 14.70 per cent rise to bag $3.98 billion year-on-year thanks to the good performance of the apparel sector.

Bangladesh fetched $3.47 billion in July 2021, according to provisional data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) released today.

The overall export earnings in July also surpassed the strategic target by 1.65 per cent.

Buoyed by last year's earnings of $52 billion, the government has set a target of $58 billion in revenues from exports of goods and services for FY23.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis surfaced various trade hurdles for Bangladesh. But, the South Asian nation has maintained its upward trend in exports so far.

Out of the total $3.98 billion export earnings in July, 2022, the RMG sector fetched $3.36 billion, posting a 16.61 per cent growth year-on-year and also surpassing the $ 3.16 billion target set for the month.

The export data of the apparel sector shows that the knitwear subsector earned $1.85 billion from exports, registering 11.80 per cent growth.

Earnings from woven garments export have amounted to $1.51 billion last month.

Home-textile exports also recorded over 3.89 per cent growth to $95.95 million in the first month of this fiscal.

Meanwhile, the jute sector, which demonstrated a negative growth in the last fiscal, recorded a 5.17 per cent growth in July with $63.91 million in earnings.

Earnings from agricultural items, including vegetables, fruits and dry foods, witnessed a 34.89 per cent fall. The sector's aggregate earnings stood at $63.91 million during the period.

Leather and leather products witnessed over 9.82 per cent growth to $99.41 million last month against $90.52 million in earnings in July 2021.

The country fetched $43.56 million from engineering products exports in July, 2022 which was $33.03 million in July last year.

Earnings from pharmaceutical exports stood at $13.17 million while export earnings from frozen and live fish totaled $36.03 million during the same period.

According to the EPB, export of plastic products witnessed over 44 per cent growth to bag $14.62 million, reports BSS.