Bangladesh exports continue robust run, rise 8.42% in December

Bangladesh has posted growth in export earnings for the third consecutive month, in December, a feat credited to political stability and the rise in value of US Dollar against Taka.

In the first half of the current 2017-18 fiscal year, the country earned $17.91 billion with a year-on-year rise of 7.15 percent and crossing the target by .05 percentage points.

In December, export earnings grew over $3.35 billion with an 8.42 percent year-on-year rise, but missed the target of $3.41 billion by 1.84 percent, according to data released by the Export Promotion Bureau on Thursday.

Analysts and exporters hope the growth will continue in the next half of the financial year if the political stability prevails.

Mohammed Farashuddin, a former governor of the Bangladesh Bank, told bdnews24.com that the year 2017 was good for Bangladesh in all aspects.

“The political situation was calm; there was no conflict, leading Bangladesh GDP to grow at 7.28 percent,” he said.  

He gave the credit for the rise in export earnings also to the devaluation of taka against the dollar.

According to the central bank, the value of US dollar rose around 2.5 percent in past six months.

The rise in exports in July and August helped Bangladesh post a 7.23 percent growth in the first quarter of 2017-18 fiscal year, but missed the target by around 3 percent, dragged down by a 10 percent year-on-year slump in September.

In the first half of the current financial year, readymade garment manufacturing contributed to around 82.5 percent of total exports, with a 7.75 percent year-on-year growth.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association’s Senior Vice-President Faruque Hasan told bdnews24.com that the exports dropped in September because the factories were closed for eight to 10 days during the Eid-ul-Azha.

“Now we are getting the results of raising our investments and taking initiatives to improve security, digitalisation and workplace environment,” he added.

The government has set a target to export goods worth $37.5 billion in 2017-18 fiscal.

Exports in the last financial year amounted to $34.59 billion, which was 3.39 percent more than the previous year, but against a target of $37 billion.