Merchandise exports nosedive
Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh’s export receipts recorded a significant year-on-year negative growth of 16.06 percent in May, signaling a slowdown in overall export growth for the fiscal year 2023-24 and posing challenges to bolstering foreign currency reserves.
According to data released by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) on Wednesday, earnings from exports totaled $4.07 billion in May for the current fiscal year, down from $4.85 billion in the same month of the previous fiscal year 2022-23.
Merchandise exports in May also fell short by 23.75 percent compared to the commerce ministry’s target of $5.34 billion for the month in this fiscal year.
The decline in exports, which serve as Bangladesh’s primary source of earnings, presents a grim outlook for economic recovery amidst ongoing challenges.
The downturn has further impacted gains in remittance earnings.
Experts have pointed out that the export figures for May accurately depict the current state of Bangladesh’s export earnings.
Typically, there is a significant increase in export growth every month before Eid vacations, but last month’s performance was exceptional due to gas shortages in nearly every industrial area.They also highlighted that the demand for apparel exports is declining amidst the global economic situation.
The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, along with tensions in the Middle East, are adversely affecting Bangladesh’s overall merchandise exports.Despite these challenges, Bangladesh’s export earnings during the first eleven months (July-May) of this fiscal year showed a modest growth of 2.01 percent, reaching $51.54 billion compared to $50.52 billion in the corresponding period a year ago.
Export earnings from almost all sectors, except for the readymade garment industry, have declined in the first eleven months of the current fiscal year compared to the same period in the previous year.
The apparel sector, which is a major contributor to Bangladesh’s exports, saw a year-on-year increase of 2.86 percent, totaling $47.47 billion in the July-May period of FY24.
Likewise, the overall shipment of agricultural products increased by 8.2 per cent year-on-year earned $846.33 million from July to April which was $782.19 million in the same period of the outgoing fiscal year.
By contrast, the poor performance sectors like Frozen and live fish, leather and leather footwear, jute and jute goods, engineering products and home textile registered a slump in their export earnings in FY24 which pressing an issue for the country as Bangladesh will graduate from LDC status in 2026, and export diversification is most important to avoid any obstacles in the post-graduation period.
The EPB data showed that the receipts from the overall shipment of frozen and live fish, including shrimp, fell 13.56 per cent year-on-year amounted to $344.98 million in first 11 months which was $399.09 million in the outgoing fiscal year.