In another blow after remittance from expatriates plummeted, Bangladesh started the 2016-17 fiscal on a disappointing note when its exports took a hit. The country earned over $2.53 billion in July, the first month of the new financial year, down 3.5 per cent from the same month last fiscal year. Exports in the month missed target by 25 per cent. Economists and exporters, however, see no reason to press the panic button just yet.

Nasiruddin, a vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), hopes that export earnings will bounce back in the next months if terror attacks like those in Gulshan and Sholakia do not take place and political stability prevails. He, however, did not blame the Gulshan and Sholakia attacks for the fall in export earnings as July exports were actually of orders taken before hand while the attacks took place in early July. Bangladesh earned $34.25 billion in 2015-16 fiscal from exports, registering a growth of 10 per cent on the previous year. Exports grew 17 per cent in June last year.

Following last year’s growth, the target for this fiscal year’s export was set at $37 billion. According to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) which released the data last Thursday, the readymade garment sector accounted for around 82 per cent of the export earnings in July.