The cabinet approved a new export policy on Monday, aiming to achieve $110 billion in export earnings by the financial year 2026-27.

This three-year policy will commence in the current financial year, starting on Monday.

Economists have expressed skepticism about reaching the $110 billion target by FY27, citing misaligned national policies.

Cabinet Secretary Md Mahbubur Rahman announced at a briefing that the previous export policy had set an $80 billion target. Provisional data for FY24 indicates that total export income was around $70 billion.

According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the government set a $72 billion export target for FY24, with $62 billion from goods and $10 billion from services.

However, Bangladesh’s export earnings from goods in the first 11 months (July-May) of FY24 were $51.54 billion, 8.47 per cent below the target.

For the service sector, export earnings in the first nine months of FY24 were $5.08 billion, nearly 30 per cent below the target.

Policy Research Institute executive director Ahsan H Mansur commented that while the $110 billion target is not unachievable, it will be challenging due to policy misalignment.

He noted that Bangladesh’s export earnings rely heavily on readymade garments, with other sectors lacking government policy support.

The lack of product diversification has hindered sustainable export growth, leading to inconsistent export performance and making the government’s target difficult to attain, Mansur said.