Earnings from export rose by nearly 5% to US$2.88bn in turmoil-hit January compared to same month last year.
The earnings registered in the month came from shipments made in the previous months.
The manufacturers and exporters, however, have feared a negative growth in the upcoming months as they are yet to receive expected orders from the buyers due to the political unrest that already took heavy toll on the business.
The unrest has badly affected the supply chain of the raw materials, delaying shipments of finished goods.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh fetched $2.88bn in July-January of FY2014-15 compared to $2.75bn for the same period of the last year. However, it has failed to reach the strategic target of $2.97bn by 3%.
In July-January period of the current fiscal year, the export earning went up by 2% to $17.8bn, which was $17.44bn last year. This figure is over 4% less than that of the strategic target of $18.58bn set for the period.
“The impact of the ongoing political turmoil will be felt from March next as the present export data is the reflection of implementing previous order,” Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) President Abdus Salam Murshedy told the Dhaka Tribune.
If the situation continues further, it will have a long term impact on the export sector as it is the high time to place orders but the buyers are refraining from coming here because of the ongoing political unrest, feared Salam.
Meanwhile, the highest export earners RMG sector posted a 1.91% growth to $14.44bn in the first seven month of the current fiscal year, which was $14.17bn in the same period last year. In January, the sector has posted a rise of nearly 8% to $2.42bn
The knitwear export during the period stood at $7.18bn with a rise of 2.6% from the previous year’s earnings of nearly $7bn. Woven products earned $7.27bn, growing at 1.22% as the previous year’s figure was $17.17bn, EPB data showed.
“Global RMG buyers started to place orders following an improvement of safety standards,” said Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Vice President Shahidullah Azim told the Dhaka Tribune.
He also observed that the global buyers were placing unexpectedly less orders while some of the big buyers are still holding back their orders in the wake of the political unrest.
As per BGMEA data, over 40 lakh workers are employed in the industry while 80% of them are women mostly from the rural area.