ISLAMABAD    -  Rice exports from the country during the first 07 months of the current financial year grew by 95.26 percent as compared to the exports of the corre­sponding period of last year.

During the period from July-January 2023-24, over 3.323 million metric tons of rice val­ued at $2.115 billion was ex­ported as against the exports of 1.982 million tons worth $1.083 billion in the same period of last year, according to the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. During the period under review, the exports of Basmati Rice also grew by 35.59 per cent as 398,764 metric tons of commodity mentioned above worth $456.950 million was exported as compared to the exports of 320,751 metric tons valued at $337.008 million in the same period of last year.

In the last 07 months, over 2.924 million metric tons of rice other than the Basmati valued at $1.658 million was exported as against the exports of 1.661 million metric tons worth $746.434 million in the same period of last year. During the period under review, food group exports from the country grew by 57.66 per cent as dif­ferent food commodities valued at $4.267 billion were exported as compared to the exports of $2.706 million in the same pe­riod of last year. On the other hand, food group imports into the country during the first 07 months of the current finan­cial year decreased by 21.09 per cent as food imports came down from $5.983 billion in the first 08 months of the last financial year to $4.721 billion during the same period of the current financial year.

The imports of commodities including wheat decreased by 28.81 per cent, soya bean oil by 48.85 per cent, palm oil by 34.13 per cent and sugar by 42.75 per cent respectively. It is worth mentioning here that the exports from the country witnessed an increase of 7.89 per cent during the first seven months of the current fiscal year (2023-24) compared to the corresponding period of last year. According to the lat­est PBS data, exports from the country increased up to $17.782 billion during July-Jan­uary (2023-24) as against the exports of $16.481 billion in July-January (2022-23), show­ing a growth of 7.89 per cent. On the other hand, imports into the country declined by 14.11 per cent to $30.949 billion this year against the imports of $36.034 billion last year. Based on the figures, the trade deficit during the first seven months of the current fiscal year was recorded at $13.167 billion against the deficit of $19.553 billion last year, showing a sharp decline of 32.66 percent.