ABDUL RASHEED AZAD
ISLAMABAD: The country’s exports during March 2020 against February 2020 have witnessed a reduction of 15.23 percent, from $2.140 billion to $1.814 billion, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistic (PBS) said. According to advance release on external trade statistics for March, 2020 the country exported various goods and services to the tune of $1.814 billion against $ 2.140 billion in February, 2020. The data said on Year-on-Year (YoY) basis the country’s exports also witnessed a declining trend as it registered a decline of 8.11 percent from $1.974 billion in March 2019 to $1.814 in March 2020.
On quarterly basis, the exports witnessed an increase of 2.23 percent during July–March 2019-2020 totaled $17.451 billion against $17.071 billion in the corresponding period of last year.
Main commodities of exports during March 2020 were knitwear Rs33.236 billion, readymade garments Rs33.123 billion, cotton cloth Rs26.804 billion, bed-wear Rs25.936 billion, rice others Rs20.124 billion, cotton yarn Rs13.055 billion, basmati rice Rs11.017 billion, towels Rs10.667 billion, made-up articles (excluding towels and bed-wear) Rs8.398 billion, and fish and fish preparation Rs6.127 billion.
Pakistan imports during March 2020 also registered a negative growth of 20.76 percent as it fell down from $4.185 billion in February to $3.316 billion in March 2020.
The country’s imports on annual basis also went down by 19.44 percent, as in March 2019, Pakistan’s exports were $4.116 billion, which came down to $3.316 billion in March 2020.
The imports during July–March, 2019-2020 totaled $34.817 billion as against $40.679 billion during the corresponding period of 2018-19 showing a decrease of 14.41 percent.
Main commodities of imports during March 2020 were, petroleum products Rs51.265 billion, electrical machinery and apparatus Rs31,517 billion, palm oil Rs31.269 billion, natural gas, raw cotton Rs.26,384 billion, plastic materials Rs26.016 billion, iron and steel Rs23.174 billion, petroleum crude Rs21.707 billion, mobile phones Rs18.187 billion, and iron and steel scrap Rs16.293 billion.
