Mobile phone imports surge 48pc in July

ISLAMABAD: The mobile phone imports into the country surged by 48.41 percent during the first month of the current fiscal year compared to the imports of the same month of last year.

Pakistan imported mobile phones worth $68.570 million during July 2017 compared to the imports of $46.204 during July 2016, according to the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

However, on month-on-month basis, the mobile phone imports declined by 4.89 percent in July 2017 when compared to the imports of $72.549 million in June 2017, the data revealed.

Overall telecom imports soared by 53.53 percent during July 2017 when compared to the imports of July 2016. The telecom imports in July 2017 were recorded at $114.015 million compared to the imports of $74.262 million in July 2016.

On month-on-month basis, the overall telecom imports increased by 11.61 percent in July 2017 when compared to the imports of $102.796 million in June 2017, according to data.

The imports of other telecom apparatus (other than mobile phone) also witnessed tremendous growth of 61.97 percent in July 2017 when compared to the same month of last year.

The imports of telecom products (other than mobile) stood at $45.445 million in July 2017 compared to $28.058 million in July 2016.

On month-on-month basis, the imports of other telecom apparatus increased by 51.18 percent in July 2017 when compared to the imports of $30.247 million in June 2017, the data revealed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the overall merchandise imports during the first month of the current fiscal year (July 2017) increased by 36.74 percent compared to July 2016.

The imports into the country during July 2017 were recorded at $4.835 billion compared to the imports of $3.536 billion.

On the other hand, the exports from the country witnessed 10.58 percent increase compared to the corresponding month of last year.

Pakistan exported goods worth $1.631 billion in July 2017 compared to the exports of $1.475 billion in July 2016, showing upward growth of 10.58 percent.

Based on the figures, the traded deficit during July 2017 was recorded at $3.204 billion, which shows growth of 55.46 percent when compared to the deficit of $2.061 billion during July 2016.