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Exports have declined for five consecutive months. In December, merchandise exports fell by 14 percent, the highest decline in the past one and a half years. Goods worth $3.97 billion were exported this month. Goods worth $4.62 billion were exported in the same month of the previous fiscal year. This information was revealed by the National Board of Revenue (NBR). One of the two main sources of foreign exchange earnings, expatriate income, has maintained growth in the current 2025-26 fiscal year. However, exports of other goods have gone into a negative trend.
Exporters from various sectors consider the decline in exports for five consecutive months to be worrisome. According to them, sales have decreased due to the increase in product prices in the US market and due to US retaliatory tariffs. Purchase orders are not coming from the country as expected. On the other hand, as the US has imposed high retaliatory tariffs on China and India, entrepreneurs from those two countries are offering products to European Union (EU) buyers at lower prices. Due to this, Bangladeshi entrepreneurs are facing fierce competition.
More than 80 percent of Bangladesh's total exports come from the ready-made garment sector. As a result, a decrease in exports from this sector also affects overall exports. Ready-made garment exports have decreased for four consecutive months from August to November.
The main source of foreign exchange earnings is remittances or expatriate income, which increased by 27 percent to $33.33 billion in the 2024-25 fiscal year. In the first six months of the current fiscal year, expatriate income of $16.26 billion came to the country, which is 18 percent more than the same period of the previous fiscal year. In the last fiscal year 2024-25, goods were exported worth $48.28 billion, which is 8.5 percent more than the previous fiscal year. However, according to EPB and NBR data, goods were exported worth $24 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year, which is 2 percent less than the $24.52 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
In July, the first month of the current fiscal year, goods worth $4.77 billion were exported, which is about 25 percent more than the previous fiscal year. However, exports fell 3 percent in August to $3.92 billion, compared to $4.03 billion in the same month of the previous fiscal year.
Exports fell further in September to $3.63 billion, down 4.61 percent from the same month of the previous year. Goods worth $3.82 billion and $3.89 billion were exported in October and November, respectively. Exports fell 7 percent and 5.5 percent in these two months, respectively.
Source: Online/GFMM
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