ISLAMABAD-Pakistan’s exports of goods and services to Afghanistan witnessed a decrease of 10.37 per cent during the first three quarters of financial year (2019-20) compared to the corresponding period of last year, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported.
The overall exports to Afghanistan were recorded at $789.437 million during July-March (2019-20) against exports of $885.779 million during July-March (2018-19), showing negative growth of 10.37 per cent, the SBP data revealed. Overall Pakistan’s exports to other countries witnessed an increase of 1.13 per cent in nine months, from $17.793 billion to $17.866 billion, the SBP data revealed. On the other hand, the imports from Afghanistan into the country during the period were recorded at $111.559 million against $131.680 million last year, showing decreased of 15.28 per cent in first three quarters of this year.
The overall imports into the country decreased by 16.22 per cent, from $39.312 billion to $32.935 billion, according to the data. Based on the trade figures, the trade of goods and services with Afghanistan witnessed a decrease of 10.10 per cent in surplus during first three quarters of ongoing fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The surplus during the period under review was recorded at $677.878 million against $754.099 million during same period of last year, showing negative growth of 10.10 per cent, the data revealed.
Meanwhile, the footwear exports from the country witnessed an increase of 15.86 per cent during the first three quarters of the current financial year (2019-20) compared to the corresponding period of last year.
Pakistan exported footwear worth $104.351 million during July-March (2019-20) against the exports of $90.069 million during July-March (2018-19), showing a growth of 15.86 per cent, according trade data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). Among the footwear products, the exports of leather footwear increased by 11.29 per cent as it surged from $79.282 million last year to $88.232 million during the current year. The canvas footwear exports from the country were recorded at $0.344 million during the current year against $0.078 million during last year, showing increase of 341.03 per cent.
Likewise, the exports of all other footwear commodities also rose by 47.31 per cent during the period under review as these went up from $10.709 million last year to $15.775 million during the current fiscal year.
Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the footwear exports rose by 8.01 per cent during the month of March 2020 compared to the same month of last year. The footwear exports during March 2020 were recorded at $10.540 million against the exports of $9.758 million in March 2019. During the period under review, the leather footwear exports witnessed decrease of 0.91 per cent, the export of canvas increased by cent per cent while the exports of other footwear commodities also increased by 52.53 per cent. On month-on-month, the exports of footwear witnessed increased of 25.22 per cent during March 2020 when compared to the exports of $1.971 million in February 2020, the PBS data revealed.
It is pertinent to mention that the country’s merchandize trade deficit witnessed significant reduction in first ten months (July-April) of current financial year and declined by 25.68 per cent as compared to the corresponding period of last year. During the period under review country’s exports registered about 3.92 per cent decrease, whereas imports witnessed sharp decline of 16.50, the PBS reported