The impact of COVID-19 pandemic that has severely disrupted the economies and businesses world-over, had a rather telling effect on Bangladesh’s readymade garment industry, which registered a significant drop in apparel exports in the just concluded financial year 2019-20.
Bangladesh recorded a substantial 18.45 per cent decline in apparel exports – a fall of around US $ 6.3 billion – to register earning of US $ 27.83 billion from apparel exports in financial year 2019-20 compared to what was US $ 34.13 billion in FY 2018-19.
It may be mentioned here that earnings from apparel exports took massive hits in April and May. If earnings from apparel exports fell by 85 per cent in April, in May, the fall was 62 per cent.
Despite being negative, garment exports marked some improvement in June compared to the previous 2 months.
As per the provisional data of the country’s apex garment makers’ body, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), earnings from apparel exports in June was US $ 2.12 billion as compared to US $ 2.39 billion in the corresponding month of 2019, marking a decline of 11.43 per cent.
However, experts are not sure as to how would things pan out in the export front in the coming months considering that demand for apparel items is still low in the global market.
