Bangladesh's exports in February rose 19.1 percent from a year earlier to $979.23 million, helped by rising demand for clothing, Export Promotion Bureau officials said on Sunday. From July to February, the first eight months of the 2006/07 fiscal year, export earnings grew 21.13 percent to $8.02 billion, they said.
"Persistent strong demand for readymade garments, especially knitwear, led to this higher growth," a senior official with the bureau said. Earnings from knitwear garments in the eight-month period grew by 25.80 percent to $2.98 billion, while woven exports increased 19.05 percent to $3.11 billion.
Garments, especially knitwear, have driven Bangladesh's exports since global quotas were phased out at the end of 2004.
A significant rise in sales of frozen food, leather, footwear, petroleum by-products, home textile and ceramic products helped the export growth, the official said.
Frozen food exports rose 17.94 percent from a year earlier, to $351.77 million in July-February. Exports reached a record $10.53 billion in the fiscal year to June 2006, of which $7.9 billion came from garments.