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Merchandise exports fetched Bangladesh $5.10 billion US dollars in March 2024, recording a 9.88 per cent year-on-year growth, with apparel shipments overwhelmingly dominating the invoice as usual.
Export receipts amounted to $4.64 billion in March 2023, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data published Tuesday.
Out of the total March 2024 earnings, readymade garment (RMG) fetched $4.34 billion, registering an 11.71 per cent growth, for the third successive month after three consecutive months of negative growth since October 2023.
The apparel sector alone earned $3.89 billion in March 2023.
The March 2024 earnings, however, slightly missed the target by 0.88 per cent.
The country's overall exports during the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY) also marked a growth of 4.39 per cent to $43.55 billion.
During the July-March period of FY 2022-23, Bangladesh earned $41.72 billion, the EPB data showed.
The overall export earnings, however, fell 5.86 per cent short of the target set for the period.
During the July-March period of FY 2023-24, the RMG exports fetched the country $37.20 billion -- $21.01 billion from knitwear and $16.19 billion from woven garments-marking a 5.53 per cent growth, according to the EPB data.
On the downside, the home-textile sector witnessed a decline of 25.98 per cent during the July-March period of FY '24, with earnings amounting to $636.53 million.
According to the EPB data, exports of jute and jute goods during the period under review stood at $659.54 million, registering a fall of 5.6 per cent.
Earnings from agricultural items like vegetables, fruits and dry foods, however, registered a growth of 5.6 per cent to $715.84 million during the first nine months.
Export earnings from engineering products decreased by 2.77 per cent to $389.18 million during the July-March period while frozen and live fish exports decreased by 13.66 per cent to $299.2 million.
Bangladesh received $794.19 million from the export of leather and leather goods in July-March, registering a negative growth of 13.65 per cent.
Pharmaceutical exports fetched $151.46 million, registering a 14.39 per cent growth.
Export earnings from footwear other than leather items also increased by 7.67 per cent to $385.73 million.
The EPB data also showed that exports of plastic products witnessed 18.16 per cent growth, reaching $182.8 million.
Bangladesh in the last fiscal year bagged a record-high of $55.55 billion in earnings from merchandise exports, riding on a double-digit growth for readymade garments.
Munni_fe@yahoo.com