Apparel export earnings showed 2.56% growth in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, EPB provisional data shows, despite supply chain disruptions in last two months in the wake of the countrywide political violence. Police escort has helped the RMG exporters to a large extent to ship their products on time. Although the RMG manufacturers claimed that they had to face setback in sending products to Chittagong for shipment due to security problem. The figures, however, showed the positive growth in export earnings. Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) sources said Bangladesh earned about US$16.55bn through exporting readymade garments in July-February of FY2014-15. This figure is 2.56% higher than $16.14bn of the same period in the last fiscal. The knitwear exports during the period stood at US$8.13bn, while woven products earned $8.41bn growing at 1.22% as the previous year’s figure was $17.17bn, shows EPB data. “Though the export earnings showed about 2.56% growth, it was expected to reach 7%, and if the supply chain was not disrupted, the export growth could be even more,” BGMEA Vice President Shahidullah Azim told the Dhaka Tribune. Commenting on the negative impact on the ongoing political unrest Azim said: “The impact of the political turmoil will be reflected in May-June period as we’ve failed to grab the work orders as per our expectation.” “As we remained cautious about the possible negative impact due to the supply chain disruption, the RMG sector witnessed less impact than last year, thanks to the police escort for carrying our products safely to the port city for shipment,” he added. Bangladesh has witnessed continues countrywide blockade and hartals since January 6, which was sponsored by BNP-led 20 party alliance. BNP and its allies called the blockade and hartals to mount pressure on government to hold a fresh election. Meanwhile, the business community, especially the export-oriented sector, demanded incentives and policy support from the government to recover losses incurred due to the political disturbance. The $24.5bn RMG industry alone employed over 40 lakh workers, of which 80% are women mostly from the rural area.
