Imports of spices dip 4pc in 11 months

ISLAMABAD: The imports of spices into the country during first eleven months of current fiscal year decreased by 4.45 percent as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Pakistan imported spices worth $146.709 million during July-May (2018-19) compared to the imports of $153.544 million during July-May (2017-18), showing negative growth of 4.45 percent, according to latest data issued by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

In terms of quantity, Pakistan imported 127.801 metric tons of spices during current year as compared to the imports of 124.020 metric tons during corresponding period of last year, showing an increase of 3.05 percent in term of quantity.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the spices imports however witnessed positive growth of 4.02 percent in May 2019 when compared to the imports of the same month of last year.

The spices imports during May 2019 were recorded at $ 17.400 million against the imports of $ 16.728 million in May 2018.

On month-on-month basis, the spices imports however witnessed negative growth of 1.39 percent during the May 2019 when compared to the imports of $ 17.646 million in April 2019, the PBS data revealed. Meanwhile, The country's overall merchandize trade deficit plunged by 13.62 per cent during the first eleven months of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

The trade deficit contracted by 13.62 per cent to $29.207 billion during July-May (2018-19) against the deficit of $33.812 billion recorded during July-May (2017-18).

The exports during the period under review witnessed nominal decrease of 0.3% by falling from $21.330 billion during last year to $21.267 billion during the ongoing fiscal year.

On the other hand, the imports declined by 8.47 per cent to $50.474 billion during the period under review from $55.142 billion last year, the data revealed.

On year-on-year basis, the exports declined by 1.72 per cent, from $2.139 billion in May 2018 to $2.102 billion in May 2019 while the imports declined by 12.8 per cent from $5.782 billion in May 2018 to $5.042 billion in May 2019, the data revealed..