Bangladesh’s export earnings in March 2023 registered a negative growth after five months as the shipment of apparel products declined in the month due to a decreased demand in the western countries.

The country’s export earnings in March declined by 2.49 per cent to $4.64 billion year-on-year compared with those of $4.76 billion in the same month of 2022, according to the Export promotion Bureau data released on Sunday.

Before the fall in export earnings in March, Bangladesh’s export earnings witnessed a 7.85-per cent per cent negative growth in October in 2021.

Exporters said that overall demand for apparel products decreased on the global market due to high inflation caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.

They also said that export earnings might witness a minimal negative growth in next two or three months due to the global economic slowdown.

The EPB data showed that Bangladesh’s export earnings in July-March of the current financial year 2022-23, however, increased by 8.07 per cent to $41.72 billion compared with those of $38.60 billion in the same period of FY22.

Export earnings from readymade garment in the nine months of FY23 fetched $35.25 billion, which is 12.17 per cent higher than the earnings of $31.42 billion in FY22.

Shovon Islam, managing director of Sparrow Group, on Sunday told New Age that the export earnings growth in March witnessed a fall due to a sluggish demand for apparel products on the global market.

He said that Bangladesh’s export earnings might see a minimal negative growth up to June due to the global economic instabilities.

Shovon said that the demand for RMG items declined in the western countries due mainly to high inflation, increased rate of interest and tightened policy for loans.

He also said that despite global economic turmoil caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, Bangladesh RMG sector was doing pretty well.

Export earnings from woven garments grew by 12.63 per cent to $16.11 billion in July-March of FY23 compared with those of $14.30 billion in the same period of the previous financial year.

Earnings from knitwear exports grew by 11.78 per cent to $19.13 billion in the nine months of FY23 against $17.11 billion in the same period of FY22.

Mohiuddin Rubel, a director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said that export earnings from apparel in March 2023 fell by 1.04 per compared with that of the same month in 2022 due to the global economic slowdown caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.

Despite a sluggish export growth, Bangladesh is performing better on the global market than its competitor countries.

Mohiuddin hoped that the global economy would rebound in 2024 and Bangladesh would gain more share on the global export market in the coming days.

Export earnings from home textiles in the July-March period of FY23 fell by 25.73 per cent to $859.94 million compared with those of $1.15 billion in the same period of FY22.

Export earnings from leather and leather goods in nine months of FY23 increased by 2.56 per cent to $919.73 million compared with those of $896.8 million in the same period of the previous financial year.

Earnings from leather-footwear exports declined by 0.88 per cent in the nine months of FY23 to $534.23 million compared with those of $538.98 million while other leather products fetched $292.26 million with a 20.77-per cent growth in the period.

Export earnings from jute and jute goods in the July-March period of FY23 declined by 21.23 per cent to $698.7 million compared with those of $887.06 million in the same period of FY22.

Export earnings from agricultural products in nine months of FY23 decreased by 28.31 per cent to $687.09 million compared with those of $958.46 million in the same period of FY22.

Export earnings from frozen and live fish fell by 20.50 per cent to $346.55 million and the earnings from shrimp export decreased by 24.39 per cent to $251.57 million in the nine months of FY23.