Prime Minister’s private industry and investment adviser, Salman Fazlur Rahman, on Sunday stated that the lack of coordination between the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the National Board of Revenue (NBR), and Bangladesh Bank resulted in discrepancies in export figures.

Recently, the Bangladesh Bank revised the country’s export earnings data downward by over $12 billion for the July-April period of the financial year 2023-24.

In FY2022-23, the discrepancy between the actual realizations reported by the Bangladesh Bank and the EPB’s shipment figures amounted to $12.08 billion.

‘While it’s better late than never, there have been issues due to the lack of coordination between the EPB, the Bangladesh Bank, and the NBR,’ Salman Fazlur Rahman said while addressing a roundtable on Digitalizing International Trade in Bangladesh organized by the International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh.

‘I would like to point out that it raises the question of whether we have understated our exports. The correction figure you mentioned pertains to what we call CMT (Cut, Make, and Trim) exports,’ he said.

According to Salman, CMT export involves fabric and yarn provided free of cost, which are then converted into garments and exported.

‘Therefore, the CMT reporting at that time would reflect the total export value. Despite the fabric being provided free of cost, no payment is received for it upon export,’ explained the prime minister’s adviser.

This is an area where the Bangladesh Bank needs to monitor and adjust in terms of foreign exchange usage, he added.

‘Whether the fabric is part of CMT or paid for, it still qualifies as an export because we process and export it. From this standpoint, I believe the correction is justified and accurate,’ Salman remarked.

He also highlighted another error by the EPB, where exports from the Export Processing Zones (EPZ) were counted twice.

Fabric and yarn exported from the EPZ to Bangladesh were initially counted as exports, and subsequently, garments made from these materials were also counted as separate exports, Salman clarified, noting that these double counting inflated the export figures.

Fortunately, this issue has been addressed. EPB, the Bangladesh Bank, and NBR are now collaborating to implement robust mechanisms to prevent such errors in the future, the prime minister’s adviser concluded.