Refayet Ullah Mirdha

Over the last couple of weeks, power cuts have become a pretty regular event.

The government’s promise to create jobs for a massive number of people in the current fiscal year has not translated into reality as most of the initiatives aimed at generating employment have not been implemented.

Although garment shipments from Bangladesh to major destinations saw negative growth over the past few months due to inflationary pressure stemming from the Russia-Ukraine war, rising exports to non-traditional markets has emerged as a silver lining.

The upcoming budget should target containing inflationary pressure to provide much-needed relief to consumers and be business-friendly to help the business community overcome the crisis stemming from the Russia-Ukraine war, said a number of businessmen and economists yesterday.

Stocks of unsold yarn of local millers have grown to over one million tonnes over the past five months or so for a drop in demand for garments from the domestic and international consumers.

Bangladesh secured the top position in garment shipments to the European Union during the January-March period, overtaking China in terms of quantity, as retailers in the trade bloc have started diversifying their sources to reduce overdependence.

Visiting officials of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) yesterday sought the views of union leaders from different economic sectors on the labour situation in Bangladesh across six major areas.

US industrial giant General Electric has been doing business in Bangladesh since 1970 and plans to go for bigger investments to tap immense business potential as demand for electricity is on the rise in the country. Jeffrey Goldmeer, global hydrogen value chain leader for GE Power, talked about his company’s journey in Bangladesh, current business, and future plans during an interview with The Daily Star in Dhaka recently.

Imports of manmade fibre (MMF), such as polyester staple fibre (PSF) and viscose staple fibre (VSF), are surging in Bangladesh due to higher demand from local garment makers and exporters.

Water consumption for manufacturing denim fabrics has reduced significantly in Bangladesh as local producers now use highly efficient technology, according to market players.

Both Bangladesh and Japan have begun negotiating the terms and conditions of a joint feasibility study in order to prepare the ground for signing a free trade agreement by 2025, officials said.  

The first meeting of a newly formed wage board for garment workers is scheduled to be held on May 24 on a proposal of major trade unions for offering workers a minimum monthly payment of Tk 23,000.

The government will continue to provide incentives to 12 sectors as an alternative to direct cash support on export receipts with a view to helping exporters tackle potential challenges in the post-LDC era, a top official said yesterday.

Bangladesh retained second position in apparel shipments to the European Union (EU) in the first two months of the current year with a 22.75 per cent share of the trade bloc’s overall garment imports, according to data from EUROSTAT.

Export earnings declined 16.52 per cent year-on-year to $3.95 billion in April as the shipment of garments, the key export item, dipped owing to a reduced purchasing capacity of consumers in the western countries amid persistently higher inflation.

Exports and remittances, two major sources of foreign currencies for Bangladesh, plunged in April, a bad omen for the economy as it deals with multiple challenges, including a dollar crisis, an elevated level of import costs and falling reserves. 

An ongoing conflict in Sudan will not have any major impact on Bangladesh’s import of cotton from the country as it accounts for a very small part of the import and there are some alternative African sources for local importers, spinners and millers.

Bangladesh’s plans aimed at diversifying export baskets are yet to bring about the expected results as the priority sectors are not enjoying most of the benefits promised in the Export Policy for 2021-24, according to entrepreneurs. 

Workplace safety in the RMG sector improved to a great extent. However, the safety and compliance in the non-RMG sectors are yet to improve as per the standards of the garment sector.

Bangladesh’s import of capital machinery has continued its falling trend as banks have remained cautious in financing purchases amid the dollar crisis while entrepreneurs showed reluctance to expand owing to slowing domestic and export sales.