Bangladesh targets $37.5 billion export earning in FY2018

Bangladesh has set an export target of $37.5 billion for the current fiscal year, which is a 1.35 percent rise from the previous year.

The government estimates the garment industry will be able to fetch $31.6 billion in exports by the end of the current fiscal year, accounting for almost 80 percent of the earning.

"I hope we will be able to achieve our target," Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed told the media at the secretariat on Sunday after revealing the figures.

Bangladesh's exports earning stood at $34.83 billion in FY2017 against the target of $37 billion.

Ahmed said they expect the service sector to earn a further $3.5 billion by the end of the current fiscal year.

The target from woven garment is set at $15.06 billion, up 10.08 percent from last year while it is $15.10 billion for knitwear, which is a 9.76 percent rise.

In the just concluded fiscal 2016-17, the apparel sector earned $28.14 billion -- $14.39 billion from woven garments and $13.75 billion from knitwear, Ahmed said.

Sector	Target (US$)	Growth (%)
Jute and jute goods	1.05 billion	9.62
Leather and leather products	1.38 billion	11.83
Frozen fish	535 million	1.61
Agro-processing industry	570.6 million	4.13
Plastic products	148 million	26.55
Pharmaceuticals	100 million	12.15
Home textile	880 million	10.12
Engineering products	876 million	27.17
Ceramics	40.3 million	9.86