Bangladesh’s exports continue to stay steady at $4bn in November

Bangladesh has continued its post-pandemic gains in November, shipping $4.04 billion worth of goods and exceeding the monthly target by 13 percent.

November’s exports grew 31.25 percent year-on-year.

That compares with a new record in exports, $4.73 billion, in October.

In the first five months of this fiscal year, exports grew 24.29 percent year-on-year to $19.79 billion.

However, the discovery of the new coronavirus variant omicron, which was first found in South Africa, is a cause for concern among exporters.

The flow of export earnings is still positive after buyers placed huge orders following the lifting of COVID restrictions, said Shahidullah Azim, vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

“But following the news of the new variant, they are sending purchase orders in a very calculative manner. As a result, we are worried about the possibility of orders going down in the future. It all depends now on how great an impact omicron has.”

Exporters think the transport workers’ strike last month also caused export earnings to drop.

Garment exports increased 22.97 percent year-on-year to $15.85 billion in the July-November period, compared with the $14.11 billion target for the period, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau.