Bangladesh’s apparel export earnings from the United Kingdom, the third largest export market for the country after the US and the EU, hovered by 19 per cent in the first half of the current fiscal year (2017-18) despite the fear of losing orders over Brexit.
According to the Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) Data, apparel export earnings from the UK rose to US $ 1.85 billion in July-December of the financial year 2017-2018 from US $ 1.53 billion in the same period of FY 2016-2017.
Trade experts reportedly said that Bangladesh’s exports to the UK rebounded strongly this fiscal year as initial fear over the Brexit, the separation of Britain from the European Union, had subsided while pound sterling made a moderate recovery.
Although concerns are still there that Brexit would affect the UK economy when it takes full effect, the recent negotiation between UK Government and EU leaders has given a positive indication about a possible deal, said Mobassher Chowdhury, an economist of a Bangladesh-based think tank.
As a result, the UK economy is still performing well despite the rise in the exchange rate of the pound, which slumped to around BDT 101 in July 2016 but went up to BDT 112 in the recent weeks, has helped Bangladesh exporters, Mobassher further added.
He also said that as Bangladesh manufactures lower-end products, the recent rise in inflation in the UK had driven consumers to lower-end items.
Meanwhile, apparel export earnings of Bangladesh from other European countries also surged by a significant rate as Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland market posted 27 per cent, 14.23 per cent, 31 per cent and 24 per cent growth, respectively, in the first half of the 2017-18 FY.
Exporters reportedly think that the recovery in the value of Euro against the Taka and the increased sourcing of garment products by big fashion brands like Zara and H&M has also helped Bangladeshi exports to grow in these EU markets.
