Bangladesh: Garment exports decline for a second month, due to declining demand amid ongoing economic slowdown
"Export earnings decrease for second month", 3 May 2023
Bangladesh’s export earnings in April 2023 registered a negative growth for the second consecutive month due to declining demand for apparel products on the global market amid the ongoing economic slowdown.
The country’s export earnings in April declined by 16.52 per cent to $3.95 billion year-on-year compared with those of $4.74 billion in the same month of 2022, according to the Export promotion Bureau data released on Wednesday.
Experts and exporters said that Bangladesh’s export earnings registered negative growth due to declining demand for readymade garments on the global market.
Western economy is facing turmoil due to the Russia-Ukraine war and consumers are spending more for buying foods, medicines and other daily essentials, they said.
Exporters said that decreased shipment in April was also another reason for negative growth as the production remained suspend for seven-eight days in the month due to Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.
‘The impact of global economic slowdown was reflected in the export data of Bangladesh. It was expected that the western countries would be able to control inflation but unfortunately, they failed to do it and the demand for apparel declined,’ Research and Policy Integration for Development chairman Mohammad Abdur Razzaque told New Age...
He said that the economy of European Union and the United States were struggling with high inflation and most probably the western countries would continue with an aggressive monetary policy and demand for apparel might decrease more on the markets...
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Faruque Hassan said that the export orders had decreased for the past few months due to an economic slowdown in the western countries due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
He said that banks in the western countries increased their interest rates to check inflation and it pushed up the rate of the instalments of mortgage.
To cope up with high inflation, consumers in the western countries decreased the consumption of apparel, Faruque said...