The country’s export sector has witnessed sluggish growth in the first quarter of the current fiscal year as earning from RMG exports fell flat compared to the same period in the last fiscal year.
In the first quarter of the current fiscal year 2014-15, Bangladesh’s total export earnings rose to $7.7 billion, which is nearly 1% higher compared to $7.63 billion for the same period of the last year, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data revealed yesterday.
But the figure is 3.87% less than the earning target of $8 billion set for the first quarter of the current fiscal.
In the first quarter of fiscal year 2013-14, earnings from export posted 21% growth while it was 2% in FY12-13, 23% in FY11-12 and nearly 30% in the FY10-11.
Meanwhile in September, the country’s export earnings declined by 1.44% to $2.55billion compared to $2.6 billion of the last year, but the figure is nearly 9% higher than the target of $2.34bn for the month.
From July to September of 2014-15, the RMG export earnings rose to $6.23 billion with a meager growth of 0.47% compared to $6.20 billion for the same period of last year.
The knitwear posted a 3.5% growth to $3.27 billion, but the woven garments witnessed a downtrend for the second straight month. Export earnings from the woven products plunged by 2.66 % to $2.93 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
“It is a matter of great concern that the export earnings from the RMG sector has seen slow growth through it contributes 81% to total export, while our competitors are witnessing significant growth,” Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) Abdus Salam Murshedy told the Dhaka Tribune.
Murshedy attributed the sluggish growth to the inspection of garment factories by the retailers’ platform – Accord and Alliance.
He said production capacity slowed down while its cost increased manifold but the buyers did not raise the price of products leading to less earning.
BGMEA Vice-President Shahidullah Azim echoed the same as Murshedy.
He said a series of industrial incidents, political instability and safety inspection in the factories are reasons behind the fall in export earnings.
Azim, however, expects a rebound within the first half of the current fiscal as the garment industry is going to comply with the corrective measures set by the Accord and Alliance.
The buyers are again showing interest to place orders that were pulled out after the Tazreen Fashions fire and Rana Plaza tragedy, added he.
In the first quarter of the current fiscal, Jute and jute products declined by nearly 4%, followed by specialised textiles 22.23%, engineering products 22%, ships and boats 25%, leather 8.79% and frozen fish 10.87%.
Among the major sectors, agriculture products posted a 27% growth to $187 million followed by chemical products 8.63% to $25.5 million, pharmaceuticals 2% to $20 million, plastics 35% to $27 million, leather and leather products12.39% to $308 million, footwear 30% to $141 million, home textile by 3.14% to $185 million and bicycle posted 36.79% to $7.89 million.