Bangladesh earned 5.8 billion U.S. dollars by exporting goods in the first seven months of the current fiscal year (July 2005-June 2006), showing a 16.92 percent growth, The Daily Star reported Wednesday.

The export earning stood at 4.96 billion dollars during the corresponding seven months of 2004-05 fiscal year, the daily quoted Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) statistics as saying.

The overall export target set for the July-January in fiscal 2005-06 surpassed 0.09 percent. But the export target for the month of January in 2006 fell 2.63 percent, EPB statistics shows.

An official of the EPB said if the current trend continues export target for this fiscal year will be achieved.

He however said product diversification and maintaining international quality are key to boosting Bangladesh's export.

The knitwear export grew by 28.57 percent to fetch 2.09 billion dollars, exceeding the growth target by 1.58 percent set for the first seven months of the current fiscal year.

Woven garments continued to maintain positive growth in July- January period of the current fiscal year, fetching 2.26 billion dollars.

EPB statistics shows the country earned 28.82 million dollars by exporting textile fabrics during the period, registering the highest growth of 310.99 percent among the major export items.

Exports of tea, home textile and vegetables registered a negative growth during the period.

Source: Xinhua