The country’s export earnings in July to April of the current fiscal year stood at $27.63 billion, posting a 9.22 per cent growth from the $25.30 billion earned in the same period of the previous fiscal year driven mainly by a moderate increase in readymade garment export. Experts and exporters have termed the export earnings growth in the first 10 months of 2015-16 satisfactory. According to them, improvement in compliance, technological upgrading, and gaining market share from China were the key reasons behind the growth.The amount of the earnings is 1.95 per cent more than the $27.10 billion target set by the government for the period, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data released on Thursday. The EPB data shows the export earnings in April stood at $2.68 billion or 11.82 per cent more than that in March and 0.41 per cent higher than the target of $2.67 billion for the month. According to the data, the earnings from the readymade garment export in the July-April period of FY16 amounted to $22.63 billion, which were 10.07 per cent higher than the $20.56 billion earned in the same period of FY15.Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies senior research fellow Nazneen Ahmed said after the Rana Plaza building collapse, entrepreneurs have made huge investments in the areas of compliance that helped the country regain its image. She said the Western buyers are now satisfied with the standard of Bangladesh’s RMG factories as they identify only a few factories as risky. At the same time, garment makers have undertaken technological renovation leading to improved productivity and increased supply, Naznin said. Official data shows that in July to April the woven sector earned $11.90 billion with a 12.71 per cent growth, while the knitwear sector fetched $10.73 billion, showing a 7.29 per cent growth.Shahidullah Azim, a former vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the export earnings growth in the first 10 months is satisfactory. But, he said, ‘The earnings should increase more as the production from China has been shifting to other countries due to its higher production cost. Bangladesh can avail more shares of the market being shifted from China, but we need infrastructural development.’ According to Azim, new investment is a must to achieve the target of $50 billion export earnings by 2021, but the lack of gas and electricity are the key problems. According to the EPB data, leather and leather product exports in the first 10 months of FY16 grew by 0.70 per cent to $920.33 million from $913.91 million in the same period of FY15, while leather footwear posted a 1.37 per cent negative growth to $378.46 million in the period. Frozen food and fish exports in the period fell by 10.82 per cent to $438.71 million from $491.92 million in the same period of the last fiscal year. Earnings from jute and jute goods in the first 10 months of FY16 grew by 0.78 per cent to $729.87 million from $724.25 in the same period of FY15.Experts said the export earnings from jute and jute goods have bounced back from the previous trend of negative growth following the lifting of the ban on export of raw jute.Export earnings from raw jute in the July-April period of FY16 grew by 38.00 per cent to $123 million from that of $89.13 million made in the same period of FY15. Export earnings from pharmaceuticals in the first 10 months of FY16 grew by 15.33 per cent to $68.24 million from $59.17 million in the same period of FY15, the EPB data shows.Agricultural products export in July to April of FY16 fell by 7.52 per cent to $463.65 million from $501.35million in the same period of FY15.Earnings from home textile export in the period also fell by 6.69 per cent to $623.73 million from $668.47 million in FY15.The EPB data shows that the export earnings from engineering products in the first 10 months of FY16 increased by 17.19 per cent to $459.01 million from $391.67 million made in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
