Export earnings of the first six months (H1 or July-December) of the current fiscal year (FY2022-23) experienced year-on-year growth of 10.58%, according to the latest data published by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
In the mentioned period, Bangladesh earned $27.31 billion from exports, higher than $24.69 billion in the last fiscal year (FY2021-22).
Earnings for December alone shot up by 9.33% to $5.36 billion — the highest ever for a single month in Bangladesh, higher than $4.9 billion in the same month of FY22, EPB data said.
According to the EPB data, readymade garments (RMG) — the highest export earner — bagged $22.99 billion during July-December of FY23, fetching a YoY growth of 15.56% from $19.9 billion of the mentioned period of the FY22.
Among apparel products, in H1 of FY23, knitwear registered a growth of 13.42% to $12.65 billion from $11.16 billion in the same period of last year, while woven garments saw a growth of 18.29% to $10.33 billion from $8.73 billion.
However, the export earnings from the ready-made garments soared by 15.35% YoY to $4.67 billion in December alone of FY23 from $4.04 billion in December FY22, EPB data said.
Fetching a growth of 13%, the export earnings from the leather and leather goods sector stood at $637.29 million in the H1 of FY23, higher than $563.96 million in the same period of the last FY, making the sector the second earner.
With consecutive growth over a certain period, the earnings from the home textile sector have been declining since last month.
The sector earned $601.26 million in July-December of FY23, fetching a negative growth of 16.02% from $715.95 million in the same period of the last FY.
The agricultural sector also fetched a negative growth of 23.26% to $501.91 million in H1 of FY23, lower than $654.04 million in the mentioned period of FY22.
The earnings from jute and jute products dropped by 17.65% to $485.88 million in the mentioned period, which was $590.05% million in the H1 of the last fiscal year.
The engineering sector, another promising sector of the country, also experienced negative growth of 41.24% to $261.09 million in H1 of FY23, lower than $444.32 million in July-December of FY22, EPB data stated.
It is notable that except for the RMG sector, the major export earners of the country fetched negative growth which is alarming in sustaining the growth trend in the coming months.
Talking to Dhaka Tribune, Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said that the export earnings have been better than expectations amid the current scenario.
“The apparel sector has seen good growth due to increased unit prices following hikes in raw materials prices hike like the price of cotton yarn and dye chemicals. The same shirt which was $10 in 2021 is $12-$15 currently due to a rise in unit price,” he added.
Moreover, they are currently producing value-added items like a jacket. Now garment manufacturers are exporting jackets at prices around $35-$40, but earlier, they did not receive orders for $30 above valued jackets orders, he explained.
“Exports to non-traditional markets have also increased. Our next target is to increase exports to all these new markets,” he added.
However, they have to face many challenges in 2023, he added.
Professor Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow of the Center for the Policy Dialogue (CPD), told Dhaka Tribune that except for the RMG and leather, major sectors saw negative growth.
“It is clear that the sole dependence on RMG is increasing which is not good in terms of export structure. In order to sustain this growth, we must identify where the problem lies in other sectors - in production, demand, or competitiveness,” he added.
However, the main reason for the growth of the RMG sector is the hike in raw materials price which lessened the net earnings.
“We should take initiatives to increase local value addition in this sector as it is the most important for reserve growth. Moreover, we need to focus on the jute sector to increase capacity,” he added.
Although jute is recognized as an environmentally friendly product throughout the world, Bangladesh has been unable to expand its market share.
