Bangladesh’s exports rose nearly 1.4 per cent in May from a year earlier, but still 8.5 per cent below target.

For July to May, the first eleven months of the country’s 2016-17 financial year, exports rose 3.7 per cent from a year earlier, 4.7 per cent below the target. For the full year ending on June 30, the export target is 37 billion dollars.

In July to May shipments of readymade garments, comprising knitwear and woven items, were up 2.2 per cent on year. Exports in the financial year that ended in June 2016 were up 9.7 per cent from the previous year, on the back of stronger garment sales.

Bangladesh’s resilience boils down to a combination of the world’s lowest wages after Myanmar and Sri Lanka, the right skills and the fact that China has become less competitive in recent years.

Bangladesh has been aggressively pushing garment exports and has made a slew of policy changes to facilitate these. The country is the world’s second largest exporter of clothing.

Garment exports contribute 80 per cent to Bangladesh’s total export earnings. Bangladesh intends to double its apparel exports to 50 billion dollars by 2021. The US is the largest importer of garments from Bangladesh.