Despite massive depreciation of rupee from August 2018 to August 2019, the country's exports have witnessed a decline of 7.65 percent. According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) figures released on Friday, Pakistan's exports in August 2019 stood at $1.859 billion as compared to $2.013 billion of August 2018, which shows a reduction of 7.65 percent.
On monthly basis, the country's exports in August totaled at $1.859 billion against $ 1.894 billion in July 2019, which also showed a decrease of 1.85 percent. According to PBS, during July-August 2019 Pakistan's exports remained $ 3.753 billion against $ 3.651 billion during the corresponding period of last year, showing an increase of 2.79%.
The following are the major exports commodities during August 2019: knitwear, Rs 44.054 billion; readymade garments, Rs 37.261 billion; bed wear, Rs 32,549 billion; cotton cloth, Rs 27.991 billion; cotton yarn, Rs 17.282 billion; rice others, Rs 12.739 billion; towels, Rs 9.686 billion; rice basmati, Rs 9.130 billion; made-up articles (excl towels & bed wear), Rs 8,528 billion; and surgical goods & medical instruments, Rs 5.971 billion.
During August 2019, Pakistan's imports stood at $3.658 billion as compared to $ 4.019 billion in July 2019 showing a decrease of 8.98 percent and on annual basis Pakistani imports witnessed a reduction of 26.26 percent as imports in August 2018 were $ 4.961 billion against $3.658 billion in August 2019.
In terms of US dollars, the imports during July-August, 2019 totaled at $ 7.677 billion against $ 9.769 billion during the corresponding period of last year, showing a decrease of 21.41 percent.
The following are the major imported commodities during August 2019: petroleum products, Rs 76.215 billion; liquefied natural gas, Rs 46.779 billion; electrical machinery and apparatus, Rs 38.133 billion; plastic materials, Rs 25.347 billion; palm oil, Rs 23.792 billion; iron and steel, Rs 23.695 billion; petroleum crude, Rs 23.328 billion; iron and steel scrap, Rs 19.415 billion; power generating machinery, Rs 15.564 billion; and medicinal products, Rs 13.692 billion.