The country’s merchandising exports have continued to plunge as work orders are shifting to competing economies, causing the exporters to lose competitive edge to their rivals.
Export earnings dropped by 7.3 percent to $2.92 bn in September, the second consecutive month to face negative growth, amid sharp decline in apparel exports.
While the country’s export has been experiencing slowdown for months, its major competitor Vietnam’s textile and apparel export posted a 2.2 percent growth to $3.37 bn in August. According Apparel Promotion Council (India), RMG exports were to the tune of $1.26 bn in August, with a decline of 2.44 percent against the corresponding month of August, 2018 which was $1.29 bn.
In August, the second month of the current fiscal year, Bangladesh earned $2.84 bn from exporting goods, down by 11.49 percent compared to the same period last year. According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data released yesterday, Bangladesh earned $2.92 bn in September, down by 7.30 percent from the same month of last year. However, the export earnings during July-September, the first quarter of the current fiscal year, plunged by 2.94 percent to $9.65 bn.
The apparel sector, which accounts for 84 percent of total exports, witnessed a 4.70 percent decline to $2.34 bn in September. As per the data, knitwear products earned $1.25 bn, down by 3.45 percent, while woven goods fetched $1.09 bn, posting a 6.09 percent fall. In the first quarter, exports from the RMG sector declined by 1.64 percent to $8.06 bn.
