Exports on recovery path, Bangladesh

According to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) statistics, exports in February of fiscal 2009-10 bagged $1.31 billion, up from $1.21 billion in the same month a year ago.

Exports grew 3.49 percent in January, but declined 1.29 percent in December of the current fiscal year.

But overall exports in the first eight months of the current fiscal year shrank 3.21 percent, raising fears that the country may fail to achieve the full-year target.

In the first eight months, Bangladesh exported $10.02 billion products, compared to $10.35 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Exporters said a delayed impact of global financial contraction, coupled with the power crisis at home, was to blame for negative export growth.

EPB Vice President Shahab Ullah said it would be possible to end the fiscal year's overall export growth in the positive territory as exports have been on the recovery path from January.

"But it may not be possible to achieve the export target since performance in the first eight months was not in line with the target," he said.

The government set a $17.6 billion export target for the current fiscal year, which is 13 percent higher than $15.6 billion of the previous year.

People connected to the manufacturing sector said a persisting power crisis was the main setback for them to meet the deadline for orders. Sometimes they had to send shipments by air at much higher rates.

Blaming slow export growth on the power crisis, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association President Abdus Salam Murshedy said garment makers were losing their established export markets due to an erratic power supply.

"We don't need power for 24 hours. We will be happy with 8-10 hours power supply a day, but that should be uninterrupted," he said.

He said losses are piling up as persistent power outages idle factories for long.

Sector leaders said clothing exports that account for 80 percent of export earnings, were in the negative territory in the July-February period of the current fiscal year, except for October.

"Although overall exports grew in February, performances of both woven garments and knitwear products were in the negative territory in the month," said Fazlul Hoque, president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

In the July-February period, knitwear exports declined 5.75 percent to $4.02 billion, while woven garment exports skipped 5.34 percent to $3.71 billion.

Jute goods, electronics, raw jute, engineering products, among others, showed export growth and reached the target for the period.

Melamine tableware, camera parts, leather bags and purses, cut flower/foliage, agro-processed products witnessed growth but failed to achieve the target.

Footwear, frozen foods, home textile, woven garments, knitwear, pharmaceuticals, which are the main foreign currency earning products, missed out on export growth and fell short of the target.

Source: Kawsar Khan, Star