Bangladesh’s export earnings from the US market in the first quarter of the current fiscal year grew by 15.75 per cent. Earnings from India also witnessed a growth of 11.42 per cent year on year because of a huge rise in exports of jute and jute products. But readymade garment exports to India posted a growth of only 4.2 per cent.

This was because Bangladesh’s garment makers lost some competitiveness because of lower cotton price in India. As India has surplus cotton with lower prices, pricing of India’s garment products was better during the period.

Earnings from the US market posted a negative growth of 8.42 per cent year on year. But there was a rise in readymade garment exports to the US. This was because of progress in factory remediation work, the steadiness of value of the taka against the dollar, relaxation of US visa processing and value addition by Bangladesh’s garment makers. In addition economic activity has picked up in the US.

Confidence of US buyers in Bangladesh has grown in recent months. The US recently eased visa processing, allowing a visit by mid-level garment officials of Bangladesh. This helped marketing of Bangladeshi products in the US market.