ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s textile and clothing exports increased four per cent to $6.90 billion during the first half of the current financial year (FY20), data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics revealed on Friday.
The growth in textile and clothing exports helped increase the overall exports from the country by 3.14pc to $11.53 billion during the period under review.
According to data, textile and clothing export proceeds were recorded at $1.14 billion in December, higher by 0.36pc when compared with exports worth $1.13 billion in the corresponding month of last year.
Product-wise details reveal that exports of knitwear increased by 7.59pc in value and 5.66pc in quantity, followed by 3.16pc (value) and 11.69pc (quantity) increase in bedwear. Foreign sales of readymade garments rose by 12.08pc in value and 32.37pc in volume while proceeds from towel only inched by a modest 0.22pc in value and 1.92pc in quantity.
Meanwhile, export of cotton yarn dipped by 0.74pc, followed by cotton cloth by 3.7pc, yarn (other than cotton) by 1.67pc, and cotton carded by 72.22pc. However, the export of raw cotton was up by 9.06pc while that of art & silk surged by 13.22pc.
On the import side, the data revealed that import bill of petroleum group dipped 19.87pc to $6.14 billion during the first half of FY20, with the largest drop coming from crude oil at 26.99pc. In terms of quantity, petroleum imports fell by 14.5pc to 3.94 million tonnes.
The import of liquefied natural gas was down 4.83pc whereas that of liquefied petroleum gas surged 33.85pc.
The import of electric machinery jumped by 48.16pc to $1.305 billion during 1HFY20. However, the import of machinery related to agriculture, textile and construction declined.
The overall transport group also witnessed a decrease of 44.45pc as imports of motor vehicles (CBU) dipped by a massive 73.96pc during July-December FY20.
In telecom sector, import of mobile handsets soared 69.25pc to $616.148 million while that of other apparatus plunged by 21.71pc to $228.509 million. The increase in the former was the result of crackdown on smuggling and doing away with free imports in baggage schemes.
Food group imports fell by 13.48pc mainly due to the imposition of regulatory duties on proceeds. The decline was noted in imports of milk products, wheat, dry fruits, tea, soybean oil, palm oil, sugar, and pulses. On the flip side, import of spices increased by 5.49pc.
The overall food imports into the country declined by 8.29 per cent during the period under review. The total food imports into the country during the first seven months of the current year were recorded at $3464.490 million against the imports of $3777.472 million during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.
The overall trade deficit during July-December FY20 was recorded at $11.628 billion, as against the deficit of $16.771 billion during July-December FY19. Exports during the period increased from $11.181 billion to $11.535 billion, showing growth of 3.17pc, while imports into the country witnessed a decline of 17.13pc, from $27.952 billion to $23.163 billion.
