An 8pc decline was witnessed in export figures for February 2017 to Rs171.5b from Rs186bn a month before.
As per provisional data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), exports registered a fall of 8.3pc from Rs 187b in Feb 2016 last year.
The PBS’s data highlighted that main export commodities such as readymade garments saw a yield of Rs20.6bn; knitwear Rs.18.5bn; bed-wear Rs18bn; cotton cloth Rs16bn; rice other than basmati Rs12bn; cotton yarn Rs9.8bn; towels Rs6.7bn; made-up articles (excl, towels and bed wear) Rs5.4bn; fruits Rs4bn; and. basmati rice Rs4bn
Fruit, cotton cloth and knitwear exports also registered a decline of 11pc, 16pc, 10pc and 31pc, respectively.
Imports too registered a drop from the previous month.
PBS data disclosed that imports fell on a month-on-month basis in February 2017 to Rs 463b from Rs 495b a month ago. On a year on year comparison, imports registered an increase of 34.8pc from Rs 343b in February 2016.
Principal import commodities comprised of petroleum products, accounting for Rs49bn of imports; petroleum crude Rs23.8bn; power generating machinery Rs23bn; electrical machinery and apparatus Rs21bn; palm oil Rs17.8bn; iron and steel Rs17.6bn; plastic materials Rs17.5bn; pulses (leguminous vegetables) Rs11bn; liquefied natural gas Rs14.6bn; raw cotton Rs13.4bn
The balance of trade deficit for the month of February was recorded at Rs 291b.
