Against the background of rising sales of clothing and other textiles, Bangladesh’s exports rose sharply by 11.86% year-on-year to US$1.378 billion in January. However, textile exports fell by 10% in December 2008. Data from the Bangladesh Export Promotion Agency show that export revenue increased by 18.16% to US$9.13 billion in the first seven months of the 2008/09 fiscal year. Exports of knitted textiles increased by 26% to US$3.8 billion; exports of woven garments increased by 20.6% to US$3.39 billion.
Although apparel exports rose, leather and jute exports fell as demand fell due to the global economic downturn. Bangladesh’s finance minister said the government plans to launch a stimulus policy for exporters to protect growth and employment as the fiscal crisis continues to deepen.
Some analysts said Bangladesh’s garment exports did not face any immediate disruption because most of Bangladesh’s exports are basic and low-cost products. Bangladesh has set an export target of US$16.3 billion by June 2009. In the fiscal year ending June 2008, exports reached US$14.11 billion, of which clothing exports reached US$10.7 billion.
