ISLAMABAD: Commerce and Textile Minister Muhammad Pervaiz Malik said that country’s exports, especially value-added items, have decreased by 15.55 per cent since 2013-14.
On Friday he informed the Senate that the trend of declining of the exports is still continued.
The minister while replying to questions in the Senate informed the upper house that due to declining the exports from Pakistan, the balance of payment is disturbed and there have been negative trends in the balance of trade.
The commerce minister said during May 2016 the exports of the country were $ 1.627 billion while the imports during this period remained at $ 5.092 billion showing a negative trade balance of $ 3.465 billion. The minister said during June 2016 the exports reached at $ 1.912 billion against the imports of $ 4.534 billion.
The decline in the exports continued and the commerce minister said in July 2017 the exports of the country remained at $ 1.631 billion and the imports during this month remained $ 4.835 billion.
The minister said during August 2017 that the exports reached at $ 1.866 billion while the imports during the same month remained $ 4.952 billion. The minister informed the upper house that the exports in September 2017 remained at $ 1.975 billion while the imports in the same month remained $ 4.473 billion. Except for the export of towels, handicrafts and surgical goods, which showed a slight increase in the last four years, all the exportable items from Pakistan to the international market remained sluggish and registered downward trend due to the various reasons.
Referring to reasons for the decline in the exports of agricultural products, the commerce minister attributed the decline in production of key agriculture products like cotton, rice and sugarcane to increase in the cost of production and high prices of the inputs.
