The Export Promotion Bureau has taken a move to include the country’s export earnings from the service sector in the export data the government agency releases on monthly basis, with a view to showing the real picture of the sector. Currently, only export earnings from computer services under the sector are added to the data, but there are 10 more subsectors which remain out of the EPB export statistics. With the inclusion of earnings from all subsectors, the amount of total export earnings of the country would be increased by more than $3 billion, EPB officials said.The country’s export earnings were around $33 billion in last financial year of 2015-2016. On August 9, the EPB sent a letter to the Bangladesh Bank governor, seeking from the central bank export earnings data of the service sector on monthly basis. ‘As the data of export earnings from all the subsectors of the service sector are not included in [EPB] export data, the real picture of the sector is not reflected in the statistics. As a result, policy formulation for the service sector at the national level faces difficulty,’ EPB vice-chairman Mafruha Sultana said in the letter. She requested BB governor Fazle Kabir to take necessary initiatives so that the EPB can get the export earnings data of the service sector from the statistics department of the central bank on regular basis. Earlier on August 4, EPB officials also held a meeting with BB officials over the issue. EPB officials said that the BB had agreed to provide the export earnings data of the service sector and it might be possible for the EPB to include the data in its July-August export data. According to the EPB sources, the Bureau has decided that a new sector under the name of service sector would be included in the monthly export data of the EPB. A total of 11 subsectors will be included under the service sector. The subsectors are: transportation, travel, communication services, construction services, insurance services, financial services, computer and information services, royalties and licence fees, other business services, entertainment, cultural and recreational services and government services. Mafruha told New Age that to determine the real shape of the service sector the export earnings should be included in the export statistics of the government.‘There are both the formal and informal channels of export earnings from the service sector and we want to analyse the potential of the service sector considering the earnings in formal channel,’ she said. With the inclusion of export earnings from the service sector the total amount of export earnings of the country would be higher, Mafruha said.Policy Research Institute executive director Ahsan H Mansur on Saturday told New Age that if the export earnings from the service sector were included, it would help devising programmes to improve the sector. As the country’s service imports were higher than the service exports, the sector needs close attention, he said. According to the BB data, export earnings from the service sector in the financial year 2015-16 were $3.53 billion against imports of $6.32 billion.
