EPB proposes $67b goods, services export target for FY27

Government's Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) sets sights high on external trade and proposes setting total goods and services export target at US$67 billion for the imminent fiscal year.

Proposed target for goods export is $58 billion for the fiscal year (FY) 2026-27, predicting over 21-percent growth, sources say.

And the earning from services export is projected at $9.0 billion, riding on an expected growth of over 26 per cent.

More than 80 per cent of the proposed export earnings are expected to come from the ready-made garment (RMG) sector, a longtime biggest export-earning item for Bangladesh.

The bureau expects the apparel-export receipts to reach $38.56 billion by the end of the current fiscal year. It proposes 21-percent higher shipments in the next fiscal year, leading to an earning of $46 billion.

The initial overall export-performance target for the outgoing fiscal was $55 billion.

Apparel-sector leaders, however, have termed the target 'ambitious' by taking the overall situation, especially that of energy, into consideration.

Sources also say the recent energy and food crises caused by the US- Israel and Iran war, Middle East turmoil, and prolonged impact of the Russia-Ukraine war have had a negative impact on the country's economy like in many other countries around the world.

High inflation in developed and developing countries has reduced purchasing power of consumers, with their focus now on meeting essential goods requirement, they say, adding that suspension or keeping work orders on hold by foreign buyers, pressure to squeeze price have acted as obstacles to export growth.

Besides, exports to India have fallen following port restrictions, they note, adding that all these factors are also taken into consideration in drafting the target.

Asked about the higher targeting, EPB vice-chairman Mohammad Hasan Arif says they have drafted the proposal after discussion with "almost all the major stakeholders".

The EPB held a meeting on June 23 in this regard. Without giving details, he says, "We will send the proposal to commerce ministry early next week. "

Speaking to the FE on Thursday, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) president Mahmud Hasan Khan termed the garment target 'very ambitious' considering the exiting situations, especially that of gas and electricity supplies.

Industry has marketing ability, production capacity and infrastructure to achieve the target, he says, "but many factories can't use their full production capacity due to current gas and electricity supply which is rather day by day deteriorating".

"With existing gas and electricity supply, the target is very ambitious," he says, stressing the need for bringing the energy supply at a reasonable level to achieve the target.

Meanwhile, the country's exports entered a negative territory on a year-on-year basis in August 2025, when the country recorded a 2.93-percent fall mainly because of the negative growth of readymade garments.

The downtrend was followed by a decline of 4.61 per cent, 7.43 per cent, 5.58 per cent, 14.25 per cent, 0.50 per cent, 12.03 per cent, 18.07 per cent and 7.07 per cent in September, October, November, December, January, February, March and May respectively.

However, the export receipts grew by 24 per cent and 32 per cent last July and April respectively.

Bangladesh earned $43.79 billion from exports of merchandise during the July-May period of the FY 2025-26, reflecting a 2.55-percent year-on-year negative growth over the $44.94 billion earned in the corresponding period of last fiscal, according to EPB data.

The EPB has, however, projected that overall export would reach $47.82 billion at the end of June against $48.28 billion earnings in FY 2024-25.

Munni_fe@yahoo.com