Bangladesh's Readymade Garments (RMG) exports declined by 13.93 percent in October, from $3.68 billion in October 2022 to $3.17 billion in October 2023, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data published on Thursday.

This means exports have gone down by $513 million in this single month, which is equivalent to around Tk 5,643 crore.

The overall exports of the country in October 2023 declined by 13.64 percent compared to the same month of 2022. Compared with the strategic export target for October 2023, the actual export performance fell below 28.35 percent.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) president Faruque Hassan said, “We have been sharing the forecast of such a downtrend in exports for quite a long time. The pulse of the global market is showing depressed sales and demand caused by historic high inflation followed by the Russia-Ukraine war.”

“To curb inflation, advanced economies increased bank interest rates, which is limiting the purchasing power of consumers and demand for goods.”

“The ongoing Israel-Hamas war has added further fuel to the crisis. Our analysis suggests that the year 2023 will not be able to sustain the trade level of 2022. There will be some decline in the apparel trade in 2023, and we will have to face the heat of it to some extent,” he added.

Faruque, also Managing Director of Giant Textiles Ltd., said nevertheless, the ongoing labour unrest, which has allegedly sparked around the minimum wage issues, has seriously interrupted the industry and exports for the past week.

This has led to a decline in exports in October. While the minimum wage review is under process and the Minimum Wage Board is working within its given time, such violent protests are unfortunate, and this affects the activities of the wage board.’

“We know all the worker representatives and government are working hard to contain the situation; we need wholehearted support from all to restore discipline in the industry for our common interest. While we are passing through a turbulent time globally, such incidents will not be helpful to bend the export growth curve up, and we cannot afford any adverse impact on employment and foreign exchange earnings caused by anarchy in the industry,” the BGMEA president also said.