& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Exports stay sluggish

Earnings from shipments grew only 4.18pc in May

Kawsar Khan
Exports stayed sluggish in the global economic downturn, as earnings from shipments increased only 4.18 percent in May from the same period a year ago.
According to preliminary official statistics, the country bagged $1.32 billion in May of fiscal 2008-09. compared to $1.26 billion in the same month of fiscal 2007-08.
The latest earnings figure is more than 12 percent bellow the $1.50 billion strategic export target set by the Export Promotion Bureau.
Bangladesh posted an 11.87 percent export growth in the first 11 months of the immediate past fiscal year, earning $14.14 billion, up from $12.64 billion in the same period a year earlier.
/Xlthough sectoral figures were not available, an EPB official said many sectors including raw jute, tea, jute goods, electronics, leather, frozen foods and ceramics remained in the negative territory.
"As export earnings by most of the sectors have declined, the share of readymade garments in the total export earnings will widen to 85 percent from the present 80 percent." a commerce ministry official told The Daily Star yesterday.
With the slowdown in exports, the country will narrowly miss the $16.3 billion export target for fiscal 2008-09, the official added.
President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association Fazlul Hoque said earnings of the RMG sector would remain low in next few months due to low utilisa-tion of orders (UD) in the past months.
Without giving an exact figure, Hoque said the export performance of knitwear sector was below the mark in May. In April, knit exports achieved only 0.28 percent growth, which was 8 percent in the month earlier.
In the 10-month period of last fiscal year, according to official statistics, knit earned $5.2 billion, posting over 19 percent growth from the same period a yearago.
Woven garments maintained a 17.13 percent growth in the first 10 months of the previous fiscal year, bagging $4.9 billion or 7.30 percent growth over the target.
Earnings in May were far from satisfactory although the government rolled out an interim financial stimulus package for the last quarter of the immediate-past fiscal year to keep up export growth.
But the sector people said they are yet to receive any incentive in line with the declaration. The sectors hit by global recession are expected to receive 70 percent of the incentive from banks immediately after submission of relevant documents.
"Although the government has announced the amount, we have not received any incentive yet," said Maqsudur Rahman, a vice president of Bangladesh Frozen Foods Association.
Rahman claimed that they have submitted all required documents to banks for the export incentive but "we did not receive anything as banks aren't following government directives".
Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), urged the government to immediately spell out the modalities for the Tk 5,000 crore-stimulus package to boost exports.
"Now it needs an immediate concerted effort to allocate the package to boost the export growth," he said.
Export earnings might return to normal in the second half of the current fiscal year, he hoped.
kawsar@thedailystar.net