Global Rice News

Merchandise Exports Show Positive Growth in Pakistan

In a promising sign for the economy, merchandise exports in Pakistan have experienced a consistent upward trend for the third consecutive month in November. The export proceeds for the month reached $2.57 billion, showing a growth rate of 7.66% compared to the same month last year. However, there was a slight decrease of 4.39% in export proceeds on a month-on-month basis.

Looking at the bigger picture, the export of goods in the first five months of FY24 witnessed an increase of 1.93% to $12.17 billion, compared to $11.94 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The rise in export proceeds in November is an encouraging development, indicating that the textile and clothing sectors are starting to receive orders from global clients after a challenging year. However, the true extent of the export recovery will be more apparent in the coming months.

Preliminary reports suggest that the overall increase in export value was largely driven by semi-finished goods in the textile sector, while value-added garment exports remained negative. Additionally, there has been a significant boost in the export earnings of food goods, particularly rice and beef, in the non-textile sector.

Despite these positive export figures, the commerce ministry reports that over 1,600 textile units have closed down during the current government’s tenure. There is an urgent need for the ministry to announce a strategic framework that addresses regional competitive energy pricing, provides working capital support, ensures timely refund payments, enhances market access, and promotes product diversification.

On the other hand, imports in November recorded a decline of 13.47% to $4.46 billion compared to the same month last year. However, on a month-on-month basis, imports saw a rise of 8.31%. The import bill for the period of July-November FY24 decreased by 17.32% to $21.55 billion, in contrast to $26.06 billion during the corresponding months of the previous year.

In FY23, imports declined significantly by 31% to $55.29 billion from $80.13 billion in FY22. The government has set an import target of $58.69 billion for FY24, an increase of $3.4 billion or 8.14% compared to the previous fiscal year.

There is some positive news on the trade deficit front, as it narrowed by 33.59% to $9.37 billion during July-November FY24, compared to $14.12 billion in the corresponding months of the previous year. In November alone, the trade deficit contracted by 31.72% to $1.88 billion, compared to $2.76 billion in the same month last year.

Source: [Dawn](https://www.dawn.com)