Cutlery exports increase 29.54pc to $80.946 million

ISLAMABAD: The exports of cutlery from the country witnessed an increase of 29.54 percent during the eight months of financial year 2020-21 as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The country exported cutlery worth US $80.946 million during July-February (2020-21) against the exports of US $62.486 million during July-February (2019-20), showing growth of 29.54 percent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the cutlery exports also rose by 35.82 percent during the month of February 2021 as compared to the same month of last year.

The cutlery exports in February 2021 were recorded at $10.639 million against the exports of $7.833 million in February 2020, the PBS data revealed.

On month-on-month basis the export of cutlery however witnessed nominal decline of 1.74 percent in February 2021 as compared to the exports of $10.827 million in January 2021.

It is pertinent to mention here that the overall merchandize exports increased by 4.29 percent during the first eight months of the current fiscal year (2020-21) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The exports of the country during July-February (2020-21) were recorded at $16.304 billion against the exports of $15.633 billion during July-February (2019-20), according to the latest PBS data.

The imports during the period under review also increased by 7.49 percent by growing from $31.483 billion last year to $33.840 billion during the first eight months of current fiscal year.

Based on the figures, the country's trade deficit increased by 10.64 percent during the first eight months as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The trade deficit during the period was recorded at $17.536 billion against the deficit of $15.850 billion last year.