The Foreign Trade of Bangladesh - Its Composition, Performance, Trend, and Policy
The Foreign Trade of Bangladesh: Its Composition, Performance, Trend, and Policy
Mohammad Mafizur Rahman
Abstract
Despite structural limitations in the Bangladesh economy, the export sector performed well throughout the 1990s.
The export growth rate of Bangladesh was higher than that of the world and the SAARC countries. However, the balance of trade of Bangladesh was always in deficit and the trade deficit with India is huge. The export share of primary commodities has decreased while that of manufactured commodities has increased over the years. The growth rate of manufactured commodities is better than that of primary commodities. The import share of principal primary commodities has declined while that of principal industrial and capital goods has slightly increased over the past years. The striking features of Bangladesh‟s exports are commodity and market concentration. To overcome the problem, there is no alternative but to diversify exports and improve quality. To improve the country‟s overall trade balance, especially trade balance with India, some policy recommendations are offered in this paper.
issues, challenges and policy options are also discussed briefly.
Introduction
Trade is an integral part of the total developmental effort and national growth of all economies including
Bangladesh. It particularly plays a central role in the development plan of Bangladesh where foreign exchange scarcity constitutes a critical bottleneck.
Export trade can largely meet „foreign exchange gap‟, and export growth would increase the import capacity of the country that, in turn, would increase industrialization, as well as overall economic activities. Composition and Performance of Exports of
Bangladesh
Export Earnings and Export Growth
The export sector performed rather well throughout the 1990s. This sector achieved a growth rate of
37.04% in the FY 1994-95. During the twelve years,
1991-92 to 2002-2003, Bangladesh experienced
Mohammad Mafizur Rahman
Abstract
Despite structural limitations in the Bangladesh economy, the export sector performed well throughout the 1990s.
The export growth rate of Bangladesh was higher than that of the world and the SAARC countries. However, the balance of trade of Bangladesh was always in deficit and the trade deficit with India is huge. The export share of primary commodities has decreased while that of manufactured commodities has increased over the years. The growth rate of manufactured commodities is better than that of primary commodities. The import share of principal primary commodities has declined while that of principal industrial and capital goods has slightly increased over the past years. The striking features of Bangladesh‟s exports are commodity and market concentration. To overcome the problem, there is no alternative but to diversify exports and improve quality. To improve the country‟s overall trade balance, especially trade balance with India, some policy recommendations are offered in this paper.
issues, challenges and policy options are also discussed briefly.
Introduction
Trade is an integral part of the total developmental effort and national growth of all economies including
Bangladesh. It particularly plays a central role in the development plan of Bangladesh where foreign exchange scarcity constitutes a critical bottleneck.
Export trade can largely meet „foreign exchange gap‟, and export growth would increase the import capacity of the country that, in turn, would increase industrialization, as well as overall economic activities. Composition and Performance of Exports of
Bangladesh
Export Earnings and Export Growth
The export sector performed rather well throughout the 1990s. This sector achieved a growth rate of
37.04% in the FY 1994-95. During the twelve years,
1991-92 to 2002-2003, Bangladesh experienced
References: Islam, M.A. (2003). “Exchange Rate Policy of Bangladesh: Not Floating Does Not Mean Sinking,” Ahmed, S. and Sattar, Z. (2004). “Trade Liberalization, Growth and Poverty Reduction: The World Bank. (1999). World Development Indicators Database, World Bank, Washington, D World Bank. (2000). World Development Indicators Database, World Bank, Washington, D World Bank. (2001). World Development Indicators Database, World Bank, Washington, D Mujeri, M. K. (2000). Position Paper on Agriculture Sector, Background paper for The Sixth Five Year World Bank. (2004). World Development Indicators CD-ROM, World Bank, Washington, D.C. Year Source: Export Promotion Bureau, 2004