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Jul 7, 2015
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Bangladesh exports up 3.4 pct in 2014/15, slowest growth in 13 years

By
Reuters
Published
Jul 7, 2015

Bangladesh's exports in the fiscal year ended in June rose 3.35 percent from a year earlier, but that was the slowest growth since 2002 and pivotal garment sales, while higher, missed their target.

The Export Promotion Bureau said on Tuesday total exports in the 12 months ended June 30 were $31.2 billion, or 6 percent below the target of $33.2 billion. The annual percentage gain was the smallest since 2002.

AFP


Readymade garments, comprising knitwear and woven items, earned $25.5 billion in July-June, up 4.5 percent from a year earlier, the bureau said. That was about $1 billion below the target.

Garments are a key foreign-exchange earner for the South Asian nation, whose low wages and duty-free access to Western markets have helped make it the world's second largest apparel exporter after China.

But the industry, which supplies many Western brands such as Wal-Mart, Tesco and H&M, has faced pressure after a string of fatal factory accidents, including a 2013 building collapse that killed more than 1,130 people.

Some exporters blamed the failure to meet the year's target on political turmoil early in 2015 that left dead more than 120 people dead, most from petrol bombs attacks on vehicles. However, political unrest eased in April.

A slowdown in the key Western markets such as Europe and a weak euro and Russian ruble also put a cap on export growth.

The government aims to achieve economic growth of 7 percent in the current fiscal year, an increase of nearly 1 percent from the average of the last decade, on the back of rising exports and remittances from millions of citizens working overseas.

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