ISLAMABAD: Rice exports from the country during the first four months of the current financial year posted 10.78 percent growth as compared to the exports of the corresponding period last year, as per Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data published Thursday. During the period from July-October 2015, about 898,603 metric tons of rice worth $339.92 million exported as against exports of 657,420 metric tons valuing $306.89 million in the same period last year. According to the PBS data, rice exports on month basis also grew by 24 percent during the month of October as compared to the same month of last year. During October, about 347,685 metric tons of rice worth $121.66 million was exported as compared to 22,948 metric tons valuing $9.493 million of the same month last year. However, the data revealed that exports of basmati rice decreased by 31.22 percent in the first four months of the current financial year and reached at 131,160 metric tons from 174,191 metric tons in the same period of the last financial year. During the period under review, the country managed to earn $145.43 million by exporting the basmati rice as against $11.319 million in the same period last year, the PBS data adds. Meanwhile, wheat exports registered 100 percent increase, as about 1,061 metric tons of wheat was exported during the period from July-October 2015 and earned $0.220 million. The data revealed that vegetable exports during the last four months also witnessed an increase of 89 percent, as the country was able to export 195,659 metric tons of vegetables of different kinds and fetched $56.779 million for the country. The vegetable exports during the first four months of the last financial year were recorded at 85,420 metric tons, valuing $28.689 million, the data revealed.
