Exports grew by 27.4% in September: Razak Dawood

• "This has been due to the hard work of our exporters and they deserve praise for this accomplishment," says PM's aide.
• Export of goods for Q1 of FY2021-22 increased by 28% to $6.99 billion.
• In September, Imran Khan had directed concerned officials to take immediate measures to check the existing trade gap.

KARACHI: Exports grew by 27.4% to $2.41 billion in September 2021 compared to $1.89 billion in September 2020, announced Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce, Abdul Razak Dawood.

In a series of tweets on Monday, he said that according to the provisional figures for export of goods for the first quarter of FY2021-22, the exports have increased by 28% to $6.99 billion as compared to $5.47 million in Q1 of FY2020-21.

“This has been due to [the] hard work of our exporters and they deserve praise for this accomplishment,” he wrote on Twitter, adding that import figures are being analysed in consultation with other government departments and would be released shortly.

Pakistan-Kuwait Investment Company Head of Research Samiullah Tariq said: "Better exports numbers. Imports should come down from October 21 as impact of rupee adjustment kicks in."

The analyst, however, added that higher energy and other commodity prices might continue to keep imports elevated.

It is pertinent to mention here that earlier in August 2021, exports grew by 43% to $2.257 billion compared to $1.584 billion in August 2020, though the growth was affected by shipment delays caused by heavy rains.

The adviser had urged exporters to double their efforts to market exports in order to achieve our target.

PM directs commerce division to control import-export gap

In September, Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed the concerned officials to take immediate measures to check the existing gap between imports and exports.

He had directed the Commerce Division to present Strategic Exports Framework for approval and set targets for trade and investment officers posted abroad.

The prime minister had said with facilitation and ease of doing business for exporters, the government’s priority in terms of enhancing exports was the diversification of products and markets.

The meeting was told that with a focus on 19 products, including in the areas of information technology, textile, medicines, poultry, rice, vegetables, dry fruit, leather, salt, marble, ceramics and surgical instruments, the country’s current volume of exports could be increased by $30 billion.

In a worrying development, Pakistan’s trade deficit had surged to $7.337 billion during July-August period of the current fiscal year (2021-22) as imports outpaced exports drastically.