Textile exports slightly fall to $8.214 billion in July-February

KARACHI: Textile exports fell 1.74 percent to $8.214 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year of 2016/17 as improvement in exports from value-added sector arrested a major revenue setback during this period, official data showed on Tuesday. 

Textile exports fetched $8.359 billion for the country during the corresponding period of the past fiscal year, said the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). 

Knitwear exports remained almost flat at $1.561 billion in July-February 2016/17, while bedwear exports rose 5.07 percent to $1.405 billion. Exports of readymade garments increased 4.3 percent to $1.499 billion. Cotton cloth exports decreased 6.26 percent to $1.392 billion. Exports of raw cotton nearly halved in the period under review. 

In February, textile exports slid 6.48 percent month-on-month and 2.53 percent year-on-year $995 million, the PBS data said. 

In July-February FY17, food exports declined 11.79 percent to $2.339 billion. Sugar exports slumped 88.38 percent.  

Total exports, during this period, amounted to $13.317 billion. 

Machinery imports accounted for 20 percent of the total imports of $33.494 billion during the period under review, standing at $7.811 billion, up 42.36 percent over the previous fiscal year.

Import bills of power generation machinery stood at $2.181 billion in July-Feb 2016/17. 

The second highest import bill was of petroleum products.

Oil import bill was recorded at $6.682 billion, up 20.97 percent. Food imports soared 13.47 percent to $3.970 billion in the first eight month of the current fiscal year.

In February, machinery imports increased 41.93 percent year-on-year to $962 million, but they decreased 18.47 percent month-on-month. 

Import of petroleum products surged 67.02 percent year-on-year and rose 4.39 percent month-on-month to $858 million