Country’s export income grew slightly by 2.80 percent during the July-May period, the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) said on Monday. Exporters have blamed a prolonged political unrest for the sluggish growth in export income. According to EPB statistics, the country fetched $28144.38 million during the July 2014 to May 2015 period against the target of $29943.08 million for the 11-month period. The target for the entire fiscal (July-June) was set at $ 33200 million. Of the 11-month export performance, the apparel sector, which has been the highest export income generator, brought $22924.74 million in export income, according to EPB data. The apparel sector alone fetched $ 24491.88 million last year. In the single month of May this year, the country has earned $2841.13 million from export, posting a 4.37 percent growth over the income of $ 2722.18 million in the same month last year. Income from Knitwear export in May stood at $11167.53 million, which is 2.28 percent higher than the same month last year. Woven sector fetched $11757.21 million in May this year, with 4.43 percent growth over the same month last year. The export targets for the (July-May period) were $11919.16 million and $12339.59 million respectively for knit and woven sector. And, the entire fiscal’s (July-June) target of knitwear and woven was $13215.61 million and $ 13681.77 million respectively. Income from Jute and jute goods export registered a 5.01 percent growth in May over the same month of the previous year. Home textiles fetched $742.06 million against the target of $766.62 million. Export of engineering products registered an encouraging 23.65 percent growth over the corresponding month of last year, which is also 18.89 percent higher than the current target. The sector fetched $ 416.64 million against the target of $350.4 million. Golf shaft exports also registered a cheering 29.79 percent growth; though the total income has been small in terms of gross target of export income. The government has set the target at $11.75 million, but the income totaled to $13.55 million. EPB data shows that income from Pharmaceuticals export grew by 4.49 percent while that of computer services also grew significantly. However, frozen food export fell by 8.39 percent—frozen fish by 6.69 percent and shrimps by 4.07 percent. Besides, leather & leather products, cement, salt, stone and petroleum bi-products sectors also saw a fall trend in export income.
