As per Export Promotion Bureau data, export earnings in the first nine months (July to March) of the financial year were around $31 billion. The figure exceeded the projection of $28.83 billion by 7.2 percent and the exports of the same period last fiscal year by 12.57 percent. Total exports in the fiscal will beat estimate if growth continues, however, challenges for exporters remain.

Many of them are “facing existential crisis” due to higher interest rate on loans from the World Bank and a drop in commodity prices in the global market. Growth in exports has been helped by earnings from the apparel sector as usual. Bangladesh exported garments worth around $26 billion in the first three quarters of the fiscal year, marking a 13.65 percent growth.

Leather and jute exports, however, missed targets. Bangladesh exported leather goods worth over $771 million in July-March period against $848 million earnings in the same time last fiscal year. Exports of jute and jute products dropped to $628 million from last year’s $818 million a fall of 23 percent.