The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) in Bangladesh have consistently reported significant discrepancies in export figures over the past decade. EPB consistently shows higher export figures compared to NBR, with differences amounting to $2,261 million over the last three financial years alone. Bangladesh Bank’s recent disclosures reveal that $2,334 million of exports reported by EPB in the past 20 months cannot be traced, indicating a substantial 25% discrepancy.
These discrepancies arise from issues such as multiple entries of the same export data, differing methods for calculating product costs, and the inclusion of domestic sales from Export Processing Zones (EPZs) as exports. EPB acknowledged these factors but noted uncertainty regarding the exact cause of the major discrepancies. Efforts to reconcile these figures, potentially through improved monitoring of Letter of Credit (LC) transactions and export proceeds, are essential to accurately reflect Bangladesh’s export income.
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