The country’s export earning growth slumped for fourth month in March as most of the export sectors, including garment, continued to struggle to pick up pace following the political violence surrounding the national elections and global buyers’ uneasiness over factory safety issue. The earning in March of the current financial year 2013-2014 registered a disappointing growth of 4.79 per cent, compared with the same period of the last FY, after minimal growth in previous three months, showed data released by Export Promotion Bureau on Thursday.
Although overall export earning in July-March of the FY14 stood at $22.24 billion, growing by 12.88 per cent, compared with the same period of the FY13, the dwindling earning growth, especially from major sector garment, in last few months has raised concern among exporters and economists.
The March earning growth is the lowest since October 2013 when the growth was 2.03 per cent.
The World Bank and Asian Development Bank have recently said that slowing export earning in the last few months with other weak indicators like remittance inflow and local demand would take a toll on the country’s GDP growth in the current financial year.
Policy Research Initiative executive director Ahsan H Mansur told New Age that the export earning growth continued at lower rate in March because of the fallout of political unrest surrounding the January 5 national elections.
He said export orders and shipments for last few months dropped due to political unrest in November-December.
Besides, the lower price of jute on the international market and falling export of home textile also affected overall export growth.
‘I think fall in export growth may continue till April and it may pick up from May,’ he said.
The EPB data showed that although the July-March earning of $22.24 billion is just above the government target of $22.06 billion, earning growth came down to 12.88 per cent during the period, from 18 per cent in July-November.
Mansur said he expected that the overall annual export growth during the current financial year (July-June) would remain at double digit even after the recent sluggishness.
Exporters Association of Bangladesh president Abdus Salam Murshedy, however, said he feared that export earning would fall further in the coming months as the country was yet
to recover from political unrest fall out and because of the ongoing uneasiness among global buyers over safety in garment units.
The export earning growth in recent months fell as many of the buyers could not place orders during the political violence, he said.
Moreover, the global retailers’ reluctance in taking garment products from sub-contracting factories and factories that are in shared building also affected export, he said.
The EPB data showed that March earning of $2.4 billion was nine per cent lower than the target of $2.66 billion.
In July-March, RMG sector fetched $18 billion against $15.67 billion during the same period of the last FY.
The government set an earning target of $24 billion from the sector in the current FY.
Earning from jute sector, however, fell to $612.28 million in July-March this year from $765.42 million during the same period of the last FY.
Home textile export brought $572.57 million in July-March this year against $580.27 million during the same period a year ago.
In July-March, earning from frozen food sector stood at $495.84 million, growing by 25.02 per cent year-on-year while leather brought $381 million with 39.95 per cent growth and leather products fetched $169.76 million with 62.84 per cent growth.
Footwear export fetched $410.21 million with 31.69 per cent growth in July-March.
-With New Age input
