All other export sectors except RMG made losses in FY23
Business Report :
While Bangladesh’s overall export earnings in the recently finished fiscal year 2022-23 were completely dependent on readymade garments (RMG), the performance of the other major industries was much lower than expected.
Leather and leather goods, jute and jute goods, home textiles, agricultural sectors, and engineering items were among the primary sectors that suffered losses in the previous fiscal year.
Due to decreases in major sector export revenues, two sectors have dropped out of the club of exporting $1 billion in the fiscal year.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the country earned $55.55 billion in the recently concluded fiscal year (FY23), a favorable gain of 6.67%, with roughly 84% or $46.99 billion coming from the RMG. The RMG industry increased by 10.27%. However, the country’s product export objective was not met due to negative growth in the country’s top five industries. The government had set a target of $58 billion in export revenues for FY23, but the actual export was 4.28% lower.
According to the EPB data, the leather and leather goods registered a negative growth of 1.74% to $1.22 billion, lower from $1.24 billion in the last FY.
Leather entrepreneurs said that the reason for the decrease in the export of the leather sector is the Russia-Ukraine war, the unsold shoe stock in the United States and the EU has increased.
Shaheen Ahmed, president of the Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), told that the industry’s export income will not go up until the compliance of Savar Tannery State is ensured.
“If there is no compliance, exports will decrease further. The working environment in factories and waste management is not improving. Another investment of Tk600 crore to Tk700 crore is required to complete the CETP in Savar,” he added.
Home textiles fell from second place, earning $1.09 billion in FY23, a 32.47% decrease from $1.62 billion in FY22. According to Momtex’s head of business, Shahjada Rubel, the reserve constraint discourages banks from opening LCs, which has an impact on exports.
