Bangladesh earned $22.67 billion through goods exports in the first seven months of this fiscal, reflecting 1.09 per cent negative growth over the same period of last fiscal.
It fetched $22.91 billion during the July-January period of fiscal year (FY) 2019-20, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.
Besides, single-month earnings in January 2021 witnessed 4.99-per cent negative growth to $3.43 billion against $3.61 billion in January 2020.
Following continued fall in earnings since the beginning of 2020, mainly due to Covid-19, exports started recovering from June and entered a positive territory from July, disclosed the EPB data.
Export earnings, however, witnessed negative growth during the first half of the July-December period of this fiscal.
The ready-made garment sector, which contributes a lion's share to the total exports, fetched $18.40 billion in proceeds, marking 3.44-per cent negative growth during the first seven months. It missed the target for the period by 4.85 per cent.
Bangladesh earned $9.98 billion from knitwear exports in July-January of FY '21, registering 3.84-per cent growth, which was $9.62 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal.
Woven garment exports, however, fell by 10.85 per cent to $8.41 billion during the period from $9.44 billion during the corresponding period of last fiscal.
Earnings from home textile exports grew over 44.34 per cent to $638.96 million. The achievement exceeded the target by 16.24 per cent.
Proceeds from jute and jute goods exports rose by 27.08 per cent to $765.63 million during the July-January period, up from $602.49 million over the corresponding period of last fiscal.
Earnings from agricultural product exports, however, dropped by 2.06 per cent to $591.49 million during July-January of FY '21.
Again, export earnings of frozen and live fish decreased by 8.62 per cent to $308.26 million. Pharmaceuticals export income stood at $96.84 million, marking 13-per cent growth.
On the other hand, leather and leather goods earned $526.58 million, registering a 5.78-per cent decline.
Plastic products witnessed negative growth of 5.15 per cent to $63 million during the period under review, according to the EPB data.
munni_fe@yahoo.com