ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The National Assembly was informed on Thursday that Pakistan’s export increased 11.24 percent during July to December (2017) as compared to the corresponding period last year.
“The exports of Pakistan for last three years were on declining trend, but now the decline has been arrested and exports have increased by 11.24% in the current financial year during July to December,” the Parliamentary Secretary for Commerce and Textile Shaza Fatima Khawaja told the House during the question hour.
In order to enhance export competitiveness, she said that the government has announced an Export Enhancement Package of Rs 180 billion for exporting business community, which is applicable for about 18 months from January 16, 2017 to June 30, 2018.
The Parliamentary Secretary said that a Textile export has increased by 0.04 percent in 2016-17 as compared to 2015-16. July-November 2017-18 textile exports increased by 7.66 percent as compared to July-November 2016-17, she added.
Shaza Fatima said that the volume of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan has come down from US$ 1.846 billion in 2015-16 to US$ 1.623 billion in 2016-17.
“Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan have also decreased from US$ 1.437 billion to US$ 1.286 billion while imports from Afghanistan witnessed a decrease from US$ 0.409 billion to US$ 0.337 billion during the same period,” Shaza Fatima added.
