RMG sector earns$40 b in 10-month

Mahfuz Emran: During last 10 months (July-April) of the current fiscal year 2023-24, the ready-made garments sector has earned $40 billion against $ 50 billion annual target. During 10 months of the last fiscal year 2022-23, apparel exports were worth $38.58 billion. In other words, compared to last year’s July-April period, there has been an increase of 4.97 percent in the export of clothing. This information is known from the sources of Export Promotion Bureau.
Meanwhile, in the month of April of the current financial year, the revenue of garment exports was $3.29 billion. In April last year, garment exports earned $3.33 billion. That is, compared to April of last year, the export of clothing in April this year decreased by 1.01 percent.
Apart from this, the target set for garment export in the 10th month of the current financial year has not been achieved. Apparel exports were targeted at $42.97 billion during July-April. In contrast, exports were $40.49 billion. That is, the income has decreased by 5.77 percent compared to the target.
And only in April of this year, the target of income in apparel exports was $3.97 billion, and $3.29 billion was achieved. That is, the income has decreased by 17.06 percent compared to the target.
Exports of manufactured garments, the main product of the export sector, increased more than the overall export average. In the last 10 months, the export of the product has increased by 4.97 percent compared to the same period of the previous financial year. A total of $4,490 million came from garment exports. However, garment exports and targets have not been achieved. Revenue fell short of target by 5.77 percent. The target at that time was $4,274 million. Again, the condition of knits is much better than woven products in clothing. Almost all of the growth in apparel has come from the knit sector. The growth of this sector has been 9.11 percent. On the other hand, only zero 0.3 percent in the woven.
Exports of hometextiles among key products are on the decline. In the last 10 months of the current financial year, exports of various types of home textile products have decreased by more than 25 percent. About 31 percent short of the target. Exports fell to $700 million from $940 million in the same period last year. In this financial year, there is a target of export of home textile products worth $124 million.
Among other products, exports of jute and jute products declined by 7 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Exports fell from $77 million to $72 million. Exports of leather and leather products declined by an even larger margin. Exports of $101 million fell to $87 million. The rate of which is 13 percent. More than 21 percent short of the target. However, the export of agricultural products increased by 6 percent. Exports of the product were also 1 percent higher than the target. A total of more than $77 million worth of various agricultural products have been exported.