Exports brought home $2.85 billion in February, up 13.6 percent year-on-year.The amount is a decline of 10.66 percent from January, when $3.19 billion was received in export earnings, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau.February’s receipts take the total exports for the first eight months of the fiscal year to $22.12 billion, up 8.92 percent year-on-year.As usual, the garment sector, which accounts for more than 80 percent of Bangladesh’s export earnings, drove the growth.Garment exports raked in $2.36 billion, down 10.27 percent from the previous month.But Bangladesh Garment Manufac-turers and Exporters Association is upbeat about the future. Exports will continue to grow at a higher rate because of the pick-up in the economies of the major export destinations and the stable political situation at home.With the improvement in factory safety in Bangladesh, the international retailers have been placing higher volumes of work orders now, said the association.Sales of leather and leather products rose 1.75 percent to $752.71 million year-on-year in the first eight months of the fiscal year, while sales of pharmaceuticals went up 16.34 percent to $54.75 million. Furniture shipments increased 10.4 percent to $24.41 million.Exports of spices, live fish, dry food, petroleum products, chemical products, rubber, handicrafts and paper and paper products also maintained positive growth while that of jute and jute goods declined.Bangladesh earned $31.2 billion in exports last fiscal year. For this fiscal year, the government has fixed a target of $33.5 billion.
