Export growth drops as RMG demand falls globally, state minister tells JS

State minister for commerce Ahasanul Islam said Bangladesh witnessed a downtrend in the growth of readymade exports as RMG demand fell in the global markets.

He said this in reply to a query from Awami League lawmaker M Abdul Latif during a question and answer session in parliament on Sunday.

Ahasanul Islam said exports of RMG grew by 10.27 per cent to 46.90 billion dollars in the 2022-23 fiscal and by 2.86 per cent to 43.85 billion dollars in July-May of the 2023-24 fiscal.

The state minister said earnings for exports slowed due to various reasons including the impact of Covid-19, the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, the global economic slowdown and inflation in the US and Europe, Bangladesh’s main destination for exports. However, export growth continues in various other countries including the UK, France, Spain, Canada and Japan.

Replying to another query from lawmaker Morshed Alam, Ahasanul Islam presented a year-wise breakdown of inflation from 2011-12 to 2022-23 fiscals with the 2022-23 fiscal witnessing the highest 9.02 per cent inflation.

Currently, Bangladesh has trade relations with 210 countries across the world and trade deficit with 82 of those countries, he said replying to a query from Samil Uddin Ahmed.

According to Ahasanul Islam, Bangladesh had the highest trade deficit of 17.14 billion dollars with China in the 2023-24 fiscal.

Replying to another query from lawmakers from reserved seats for women Shammi Ahmed, the state minister said Bangladesh has a trade deficit of 7.16 billion dollars with India. Currently, the trade deficit with India has declined and the export of Bangladesh’s products to Indian markets has increased due to duty-free access to all products except for tobacco and alcoholic products. Earnings from exports to India crossed 2 billion dollars for the first time in the 2022-23 fiscal, he added.

Earnings from the export of products stood at 51.42 billion dollars as of May in the 2023-24 fiscal and 5.08 billion dollars from the service sector, he said replying to a query from lawmaker Nurunnabi Chowdhury.

Replying to a query from lawmaker SM Ataul Haque, state minister for disaster management and relief Mohibur Rahman said cyclone Remal caused damages of about Tk 74.82 billion across the country.

Cyclone Remal swept over the coastal area of the country on 26 May.