Bangladesh’s export has dropped by $370 million in August this year from the previous month.
According to the Bangladesh Bank, export earnings in last month stood at $3.21 billion, down from $3.58 billion in July.
The figure for August is 11.74 percent less than the same month last year, which was at $3.64 billion.
Analysts attributed the drop to exporters not bringing in the revenue ahead of the general election.
“It’s not that exports have dropped significantly, but the businesses are not bringing in the revenue,” said Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of private research body Policy Research Institute (PRI).
The apparel industry echoed.
“The global price for Bangladeshi apparel dropped a bit, but it should not have affected the overall RMG export. It’s possible that unscrupulous businessmen are not bringing in their earnings in the year of election,” said Mohammad Hatem, a former vice president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturer and Exporters Association (BKMEA).
Bangladesh witnessed strong growth in exports in July, the first month of fiscal 2018-19.
Exports grew about 19.88 percent year-on-year to $3.58 billion in July.
In the first two months of the fiscal (July and August), exports grew a meagre 2.51 percent year-on-year to $697 billion.
Meanwhile, in the last 2017-18 fiscal Bangladesh’s import has hit a record high of $58.86 billion.
The increasing import has caused the foreign exchange reserve to drop to $31 billion from $33 billion.