ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday congratulated exporters and the commerce ministry for the positive growth of the country’s exports during the last two months, particularly in contrast to the negative trend observed in India and Bangladesh.
According to official data, Pakistan’s exports grew by 8.32 per cent in November last year against 9.07 per cent of India and 0.76 per cent of Bangladesh.
Similarly, Pakistan’s exports jumped by 18.30 per cent in December 2020, unlike the -0.80 per cent of India and -6.11 per cent of Bangladesh. The Prime Minister said he had received the regional export trends which showed that, compared to Pakistan, the exports of India and Bangladesh for November and December 2020 showed negative growth.
“I wish once again to congratulate the exporters and the Ministry of Commerce for this achievement,” the Prime Minister said on Twitter.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said Pakistan’s exports of goods and services to the United States witnessed an increase of 6.36 per cent during the first five months of financial year 2020-21 compared to the corresponding period of last year.
Overall exports to the US were recorded at $1,855.56 million during July-November 2020-21 against exports of $1,744.46 million during July-November 2019-20, showing growth of 6.36 per cent, SBP data revealed.
Meanwhile, on a year-to-year basis, exports to the US during November 2020 also increased by 24.86 per cent — from $315.94 million against exports of $394.01 million. On a month-on-month basis, the exports to the US, however, decreased by 4.55 per cent during November 2020 when compared to the exports of $413.31 million in October 2020, the SBP data revealed.
However, Pakistan’s exports to all countries witnessed a decline of 7.13 per cent in five months, from $10.28 billion to $9.55 billion, the SBP data revealed.
On the other hand, the imports from USA into the country during the period under review were recorded at $793.27 million against $729.12 million last year, showing increase of 8.79 per cent in five months of this year.
Meanwhile, on a year-to-year basis, imports from the USA during November 2020, however, decreased by 3.30 per cent — from $205.596 million last year to $198.811 million. On a month-on-month basis, imports from USA increased by 31.94 per cent during November 2020, when compared to the imports of $150.675 million in October 2020, the SBP data revealed.
Overall imports into the all countries decreased by 0.99 per cent, from $18.35 billion to $18.16 billion, according to the data.