Plummeting sales in the West amid rising inflation driven by the Russia-Ukraine war is the big cloud on the horizon for Bangladesh the apparel industry which has taken a hit. Foreign buyers are cutting new orders and postponing old ones, according to exporters who fear a huge fall in the industry’s earnings for the next few months. Export orders have decreased in August and its effects will be seen in September and October. Many buyers are holding up orders. Walmart has cut orders by 30 per cent. The industry’s condition bore a bright outlook months ago. After it earned $42.2 billion in 2021-22, the government targeted $46 billion worth of exports from the apparel sector for the current fiscal year, although fears of a fallout from the war raging in Europe grew after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February.

In the US, inflation-weary shoppers have been skimping on clothing purchases, prompting retailers to slash prices to clear inventory off the racks. Gap is the latest retailer to report a slump in apparel shopping for the second quarter, saying that net sales slumped eight per cent from a year earlier. Earlier this month, executives at US giants Walmart and Target offered deep discounts and rollbacks on clothing.