ISLAMABAD: Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood was informed on Saturday that for the first time, exports reached USD 100 million per day in February 2022.

A consultative meeting was chaired by the Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood to discuss the trade trends for Financial Year 2021-22 (FY) here.

The Advisor was informed that according to the provisional figures compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), exports from Pakistan during February 2022 grew by 7.9 percent to $ 2.820 billion as compared to $ 2.614 billion in January 2022.

They increased by 36.4 percent as compared to $ 2.068 billion in February 2021.

He was informed that there were indications that the growth in imports has started to decline. The imports in February 2022 decreased by 2.14 percent to $5.907 billion as compared to $ 6.036 million in January 2022.

He was briefed that important exports commodities showed substantial double-digit growth in February 2022 over February 2021. These included Knitwear (grew by 57 percent), Readymade garments (64 percent), Bed wear (43 percent), Cotton Cloth (73 percent), Non-Basmati Rice (51 percent), Cotton Yarn (17 percent), Towels (44 percent), Rice Basmati (67 percent), Made-ups excl. towels & Bedwear (22 percent) and Plastic materials grew by 119 percent.

Sustaining export growth key challenge: Dawood

In response to the query of the Advisor, he was informed that in terms of markets, Pakistan’s exports to the United States grew by 25 percent, United Arab Emirates (118 percent), Netherlands (94 percent), Germany (60 percent), Italy (102 percent), Spain (90 percent), United Kingdom (27 percent), China (17 percent), Bangladesh (62 percent), and Turkey (157 percent).

Razak Dawood expressed his satisfaction with the growth of exports and advised the officials of the ministry to monitor export growth so that the momentum is maintained and necessary interventions are made if and when necessary.