The nation has kicked off talks with ratings agencies to lay the groundwork for a return to international debt markets
Bangladesh export earnings turn around in May, but suffer 60pc drop year-on-year
Bangladesh’s export earnings in May grew almost three times over in April, but with a 61.56 percent year-on-year drop as the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the global economy.
Published : 8 June 2020, 11:43 PM
Updated : 8 June 2020, 11:43 PM
Remittance inflow topped the export earnings for the second month in a row as well.
Bangladesh has earned more than $1.46 billion by exporting goods in May, according to the Export Promotion Bureau. The amount was $0.52 billion in April.
In May, when Muslims celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr, the expatriates sent more than $1.5 billion, marking an 8.72 percent growth in July-May period.
Bangladesh raked in around $30.96 billion in export in the first 11 months of the fiscal year, which is 19 percent less than the same period last financial year and 25 percent less than the target.
The government had set a target of $45.5 billion for exports in 2019-20 after exporting goods worth $40.5 billion last fiscal year.
The situation was dire in April as most factories were closed and the Western buyers cancelled or postponed a huge amount of orders for the largest export sector, readymade garments, the exporters said.
They fear the worst is not over yet.
New Generation Garments is manufacturing the PPEs having ensured the complete safety of its workers. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi
“These were from deliveries of previous orders,” exporter Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury said of the monthly rise in earning in May.
“The situation will worsen in June, July and in the next months,” the former president of garment exporters’ lobby BGMEA warned.
Export earnings in the apparel sector missed the target by 26 percent in the July-May period and dropped 18.74 percent year-on-year to $25.7 billion.
The year-on-year drop was 20 percent in March and 85 percent in April, BGMEA President Rubana Huq said as she described the situation to bdnews24.com.
“It doesn’t seem the crisis will be over soon. Analysts have forecast that apparel demand will drop up to 50 percent due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.
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