Bangladesh marked a broad based robust growth of 12.4 percent in the manufacturing sector during the first quarter of fiscal 2005-06 (July 2005-June 2006), according to the central bank.

During the quarter (July-September 2005), food beverage and tobacco, jute, cotton, ready-made garments (RMG), leather, chemical petroleum and rubber were the major sub sectors which grew by 16.3 percent, 11.5 percent and 11.7 percent respectively over the same quarter of last fiscal, daily The Independent reported on Sunday, quoting data of Bangladesh Bank.

Despite the fall of unit price index of export, the export earnings increased during the quarter due to robust growth of export volume index of the RMG sector as well as other minor exportables.

On the other hand, the growth of products, which are not exported, reflected high domestic demand. The construction sector also picked up during the quarter under review that led to the high growth in import of iron, steel and other base metal and clinker over the same quarter in the previous year.

The service sector of the country, which makes up 50 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), also showed good performance during the first quarter of the current fiscal as reflected in the increase in the volume of cargo handled by port, bank advances to trade, construction, transport and communication sectors and foreign trade.

During the quarter under review, crude volume of import cargo measured in metric tons grew by 19.46 percent and export volume grew by only 6.28 percent over the same period of fiscal 2004-05.

Bank advances to construction, transport and communication and trade sector grew by 18.8 percent, 18.6 percent and 21.3 percent respectively during the quarter, reflecting steady growth in demand led partly by sizable expansion of production of the primary sector.

Source: Xinhua