Slump in the apparel industry

The three-day shutdown and subsequent violence over the quota reform movement have severely disrupted Bangladesh's economy, already struggling with high inflation, falling exports, and dwindling forex reserves. Factories, including the key garment sector, shut down, fearing further violence and arson.

The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) of Bangladesh has halted the publication of export statistics for three months to investigate substantial discrepancies in reported data. The decision was made in a meeting chaired by Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, attended by key officials, including State Ministers for Commerce and Finance, and the Bangladesh Bank Governor.

Following his visit to China, the Prime Minister instructed the Commerce Ministry to address discrepancies in export data. He urged the Bangladesh Bank (BB), National Board of Revenue (NBR), and Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) to convene and resolve the issue promptly.

Bangladesh has detected a $20 billion shortfall in export earnings over the past two fiscal years, revealed by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) during a recheck of shipment data. This discrepancy, caused by miscalculations, delayed the publication of June's export figures.

Bangladesh's exports declined by 4.28% year-on-year in July-May of 2023-24, as per the central bank's corrected data. Initially, the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) reported a 2.01% increase, with exports valued at $51.54 billion. However, the central bank stated the actual exports were $40.72 billion, marking a $10.82 billion or 21% discrepancy from the EPB's figure.

The revision of export earnings for the first 10 months of the outgoing financial year in Bangladesh has resulted in a significant discrepancy, with nearly $14 billion disappearing from the reported figures. Over the past two years, this discrepancy totals approximately $23 billion.