Next Month Bangladesh Textile Workers Will Raise Wages By 20%.

On Saturday, an industry leader said wages for export of knitted garment factories in Bangladesh will increase by about 20% next month as prices of basic consumer goods increase.

Mohammad Fazlul Haque, President of Bangladesh knitted garment manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), said the board decided today to lighten the burden on workers, which would help improve their productivity.

Knitted apparel is the largest export industry in Bangladesh. It has more than 1500 factories and employs 800 thousand workers.

During the period from July to June 2007/08, the export revenue of knitted garments increased by 21.5% to 5 billion 530 million US dollars, an increase of 1.24% compared to the target.

In the fiscal year 2007/08, Bangladesh's exports increased by 15.87% over the previous year, reaching US $14 billion 110 million, mainly driven by the growth of clothing sales.

In the past two years, the price of Bangladesh has increased by nearly 2 times, and it may continue to rise during Ramadan in early September.

Mohammad Fazlul Haque said that if the government can ensure that the supply of electricity and natural gas is not interrupted, while ensuring that other infrastructure and related equipment can keep up, the export of knitted garments is expected to increase by 18% to 6 billion 500 million US dollars in the current fiscal year ending June 2009.