Bangladesh exports plunge 16.52 pct to 3.96 bln USD in April

DHAKA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's exports extended its losing streak for the second month in a row by plunging 16.52 percent from a year earlier in April, the government data showed Wednesday.

The country's overall outbound shipments reached 3,956 million U.S. dollars in April, compared to 4,738.67 million dollars from a year ago, according to data released by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) under the Ministry of Commerce.

The country's exports also fell to 4.64 billion dollars in March, down 2.49 percent from the same month a year earlier.

For the first 10 months of the financial year from July 2022 to June 2023, however, the EPB data showed exports rose 5.38 percent to 45.68 billion dollars.

The overall export growth was largely attributed to the demand for ready-made garments.

The EPB said shipments of ready-made garments, comprising knitwear and woven items, totaled 38.58 billion dollars in the first 10 months of this financial year, up 9.09 percent.

Bangladesh saw exports soar more than 34 percent to 52.08 billion dollars in the last fiscal year, official data showed.

Bangladesh's earnings from garment export, which has made up more than three-fourths of the country's annual income since the beginning of this decade, surged to 42.61 billion dollars in the 2021-22 fiscal year, according to the EPB.