Exports raised 13.63 percent year-on-year in November, the highest in three months, riding on the sales of apparel items.Bangladesh raked in $2.75 billion in export earnings last month, which is 16.7 percent higher than the target for the month, according to data from Export Promotion Bureau.The amount is also an improvement from the previous month, when $2.37 billion was received.Export growth in November continued the turnaround observed in October, which bodes well for the rest of the year, said Zahid Hussain, lead economist of the World Bank’s Dhaka office.Of the receipts in November, garment exports alone accounted for $2.22 billion, up 23.3 percent from the previous month and 14.43 percent from a year earlier.But receipts from almost all other major export items, including leather, dropped in November.“Despite a number of challenges, we are growing,” said Faruque Hassan, senior vice-president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.Given the weak near-term outlook for the global economy and the recent disruptions in negotiations with buyers — like cancellation of the Buyers’ Forum in Dhaka — it may be premature to take the growth recovery for granted, Hussain said.“We may not yet have seen the impact of recent alleged decline in orders on export shipments.”However, the depreciation of the taka in recent months is good news, so are reports on buyer satisfaction with the implementation of labour rights and safety reforms in the garment sector, Hussain added.“From our side, we are working to improve the factory safety further. Besides, we are working very hard to retain clients,” Hassan said.The positive growth in the earnings means the government is on track to meet its export target for fiscal 2015-16.Bangladesh earned $31.2 billion in exports last fiscal year, and has targeted to earn $33.5 billion in the current fiscal year.
