RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Pakistan’s telecom imports bill for July-November 2017 surged to $563.687 million, with a 14 percent increase, official figures say.

The bill grew by $69.29 million during the same period in 2016, according to figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

However, telecom imports dipped to $113.522 million last month, whereas they were $116.203 million in 2016, a decline of

$2.681 million, or 2.3 percent.

Import of mobile handsets for the July-November period grew to $303.449 million, up 15 percent, or $39.44 million, from $264.009 million in the same period last year.

In November, the country spent $58.246 million in imported mobile phones, lower by 11.49 percent or $7.558 million, from $65.804 million in November 2016.

Import of other apparatuses scaled up by 13 percent, or $29.85 million, to $260.238 million during this year’s July-November period, from $230.388 million in July-November 2016.

Also in November, there was a 10 percent, or $4.877 million, increase in the import of other apparatuses, growing to $55.276 million, from $50.399 million in the same month last year.