Amid ongoing economic slowdown in the European Union Bangladesh’s export earnings from the United Kingdom in the first seven months of the financial year 2015-16 witnessed a robust growth of 22.59 per cent to $2.12 billion from $1.73 billion in the same period of the previous financial year. Export earnings growth remained negative in the major markets like Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands and China while the earnings witnessed encouraging growth in the United States and India. Earnings from China in the first seven months of the FY16 fell by 8.07 per cent to $418.05 million due to economic slowdown in the country. The export earnings achieved healthy growth in the UK market due to its stable currency and strong economy as, despite being a member of the European Union, the UK conduct business transactions in the pound sterling instead of the euro, the common currency of the 19-member eurozone countries, said experts and exporters. They also said that the export earnings in the US and some other markets witnessed encouraging growth due to the upward trend of their economies. The export earnings growth in the July-January period of the FY16 in the UK market was mainly readymade garments-driven as the RMG exports grew by 26.10 per cent in the UK in the period, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data released on Monday. The RMG exports to the UK in the first seven months of the FY16 increased to $1.95 billion from $1.55 billion in the same period of the FY15. ‘The UK economy among the EU remained stable and the export growth of Bangladesh in the market witnessed a positive sign from demand side,’ Centre for Policy Dialogue executive director Mustafizur Rahman told New Age on Monday. The export earnings are being increased in some of the markets due to upturn of their economies as Bangladesh’s export is mostly demand-driven, he observed. Building supply side capacity is important to achieve demand-driven export growth in the global market, Mustafiz said. Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, former president of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said that export earnings from the UK market achieved the growth due to its strong economy that remained stable. Other countries of the EU have been facing various political and economic troubles for several years but the UK reminded free from all difficulties and is doing business transaction on its own currency pound that has remained stable against the US dollar, he said. The EPB data showed that the earnings from Germany remained almost same in the first seven months of the FY16 compared with the same period of the FY15 while Belgium and Denmark witnessed negative growth of 7.60 per cent and 4.43 per cent respectively. Earnings from Spain grew by 12.24 per cent to $1.09 billion while export to France increased by 3.52 per cent to $1.01 billion in the July-January period of the FY16. Export earnings from Sweden remained almost same compared with the July-January period of the FY15 while Italy and Netherlands witnessed 2.21-per cent and 1.86-per cent negative growth in the first seven months of the FY16. Earnings from the US in the July-January period of the FY16 grew by 13.5 per cent to $3.63 billion from $3.20 billion in the same period of the FY15. RMG exports to the US in the July-January period of the FY16 grew by 12.6 per cent to $3.30 billion from $2.93 billion in the same period of the FY15. Earnings from India grew by 27.26 per cent to $378.83 million in the seven months of the FY16. RMG exports to India in the July-January period of the FY16 grew by 15.11 per cent to $80.12 million. The country’s overall export earnings in the July-January period of the FY16 hit $19.26 billion with 8.26 per cent rise from $17.79 billion in the same period of the FY15, the EPB data showed.
