Cutlery export increases 17.68pc in 3 months

ISLAMABAD: The cutlery exports from the country witnessed an increase of 17.68 percent during the first three months of current financial year (2020-21) as compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year.

The country exported cutlery worth US $28.053 million during July-September (2020-21) against the exports of US $23.838 million during July-September (2019-20), showing growth of 17.68 percent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the cutlery exports grew by 37.63 percent during the month of September 2020 as compared to the same month of last year.

The cutlery exports in September 2020 were recorded at $ 9.608 million against the exports of $6.981 million in September 2019, the PBS data revealed.

On month-on-month basis, the exports of cutlery rose by 15.94 percent during September 2020, when compared to the exports of US $ 8.287 million during August 2020, according to the data.

It is pertinent to mention here that the overall merchandize trade deficit increased by 2.02 percent during the first quarter of current fiscal year (2020-21) as compared to the deficit of the corresponding period of last year.

The deficit during July-September (2020-21) was recorded at $5.804 billion as compared to the deficit of $5.689 billion, showing increase 2.02 percent.

During the period under review, the country’s exports registered negative growth of 0.94 percent, by going down from $5.510 billion last year to $5.458 billion during the current year.

On the other hand, the imports decreased by 0.56 percent, from $11.199 billion last year to $11.262 billion during the current year.