Bangladesh export earning was half the remittance inflow in April amid pandemic

Collected
With the coronavirus pandemic pounding the global economy, Bangladesh’s export earnings in April dropped below the remittances received for the very first time in its history.

Expatriate Bangladeshis sent $1.08 billion in the month, calming fears of remittance dropping below $1 billion. Remittance makes up about 12 percent of Bangladesh’s GDP.

The firms exported goods worth $520 million, only a little over half the remittance.

The export earnings missed the mark by 85.37 percent. The year-on-year for April was 82.85 percent.

In the pre-pandemic era, export earnings would normally outstrip remittances 2-3 times over.

In July this past year, remittance was around $1.6 billion while exports were almost $3.6 billion.

“COVID-19 is really turning everything ugly. I’ve never thought there will be more remittance than export,” researcher Ahsan H Mansur told media.

The executive director of Policy Research Institute warned that the pandemic may eat into remittances aswell.

Hundreds of thousands of expatriate Bangladeshis returned home as the outbreak caused devastating job losses around the world, he noted.

“The expatriates are sending money from their savings or loans, not earnings,” Mansur said.

“I don’t really know what may happen in future since you can plainly see what’s happening now,” said Rubana Huq, the president of the garment exporters’ lobbying group BGMEA.

“Nothing is in our hands now,” added AKM Salim Osman, the chief of knitwear exporters’ association.

The country exported readymade garments (knit, woven) worth only $369 million in April, compared with $2.42 billion simultaneously last year.

The $34 billion apparel industry contributes more than 80 percent to Bangladesh’s total exports.
Source: https://bdnews24.com

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