Cutlery exports surge 1.73pc to $91.3m

ISLAMABAD: The cutlery exports from the country witnessed an increase of 1.73pc during the financial year 2018-19, as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Pakistan exported cutlery worth $91.325 million during July-June 2018-19, as against the exports of $89.773 million during July-June 2017-18, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

On a year-on-year basis, the cutlery exports from the country during June 2019 witnessed a growth of 2.31pc when compared to the same month of last year. The cutlery exports during June 2019 were recorded at $7.317 million, as against the export of $7.152 million during June 2018.

Meanwhile, on a month-on-month basis, the cutlery export in June 2019 witnessed a decrease of 22.02pc when compared to the export of $9.383 million in May 2019.

It is pertinent to mention that the country’s merchandise trade deficit plunged by 15.3pc in FY19, as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The trade deficit contracted to $31.820 billion in July-June 2018-19, as against the deficit of $37.583 billion recorded in July-June 2017-18.

The exports during the period under review witnessed a decrease of one per cent, falling from $23.212 billion during the last year to $22.979 billion during the ongoing fiscal year.

On the other hand, the imports declined by 9.86pc to $54.799 billion during the period under review, as compared to $60.795 billion last year.

On a year-on-year basis, the merchandise exports declined by 8.77pc, from $1.882 billion in June 2018 to $1.717 billion in June 2019, while the imports declined by 22.80pc, from $5.652 billion in June 2018 to $4.364 billion in June 2019.

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