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Exports slowest in nine months

Refayet Ullah Mirdha
Exports grew 2.29 percent in September — the lowest in nine months this year — due to a financial crisis in Europe and lean season in business.
Earnings in the month were $ 1.44 billion, according to the latest data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), released yesterday.
Bangladesh clocked a staggering 40.25 percent growth in June this year, but the country's overseas sales have started to slow down since then.
The September figure is also 22.63 percent shy of the government's target of $ 1.87 billion for the month.
Exporters said generally the months of July, August and September are considered as a lean season as the brands in the western countries spend busy times for developing designs and styles during the period.
Moreover, the country's main export destination, the EU, is now going through a debt crisis. As a result, the demand for apparel, Bangladesh's main export items, declined to some extent, the exporters said.
The export growth was recorded at 32.40 percent in August compared with the same month last fiscal year, the data showed.
Export growth in the first quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal year was recorded at 22.56 percent, compared to the same period ayear ago.
During the July-September period Bangladesh earned $6.17 billion from the exports against the periodical exports target of $6.27 billion.
Export growth of some major products such as knitwear, woven garments, jute and jute goods, home textile, footwear and frozen foods slowed down during the period.
In the July-September period, Bangladesh exported knitwear worth $2.58 billion and woven worth $2.23 billion, with an 18.26 percent and 24.82 percent rise respectively compared to the same months a year earlier.
Monoj Kumar Roy, joint secretary (export) of the commerce ministry, said the exports declined a bit mainly for the lean season. July, August and September months are considered as lean season in overseas trade.
"Still, we are keeping an eye on the sectors. We are taking measures for the major products that suffered a slowdown.”
He said the double dip recession in EU might not be responsible for the slowed growth in the export earnings
as the crisis in eurozone is a recent development.
The shipments of September were made at least three or four months ago, Roy added. “So, the crisis in EU might not be responsible for the slow growth in export.”
However, Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said externally the crisis in EU is responsible for the slowdown in exports.
"Internally, the lack of skill manpower and poor infrastructures is responsible for the dip. If we want to sustain in the business we will have to be cautious as the recession is haunting down the main export market in the EU. We have to develop the skill of management, production and workers,” he said.
Fazlul Hoque, former president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the fall in export was predicted earlier as the placement of orders from the international buyers was declining over the last few months.
He said the exports might decline further in the coming months as the demand for garment items in the international market is also declining for the crisis in the EU.
Moreover, manufacturers have lost competitiveness to some extent due to a rise in production cost following hike in the prices of petroleum products, power and energy, he added.
“However, both the government and exporters should watch the market trend carefully, so that the export growth can revive through diversifying the market during the crisis,” he said.
reefat@thedailystar.net