Daily Times

Rice exports from the country during the first half of the current financial year grew by 76.53 percent as compared to the exports of the corresponding period of last year.

During the period from July-December, 2023 over 2.570 million metric tons of rice valued at $1.638 billion were exported as compared to the exports of 1.732 million metric tons costing $927.918 million in the same period of last year, according to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

Meanwhile, the exports of Basmati rice grew by 30.03 percent as over 318,224 metric tons of Basmati Rice worth $367.393 million were exported as compared to the exports of 286,577 metric tons valued at $282.538 million of the same period of last year, it added.

On the other hand, 2.252 million metric tons of rice of other verities valued at $1.270 million were also exported during the first half of the current financial year as compared to the exported of 1.464 million metric tons worth $645.380 million of the same period of last year.

During the period under review, the food group exports from the country grew by 49.84 percent as compared to the exports of the corresponding period of last year as food commodities valued at $3.481 billion were exported as against the exports of $2.323 billion of the same period of the last year.

On the other hand, the food group imports into the country during the first two quarters of the current financial year went down by 19.48 percent and recorded at $3.957 billion as compared to the imports of $4.914 billion of the same period of last year.

The exports of fruits grew by 9.31 percent and pulses by 79.01 percent as 446,901 metric tons of fruits and 96 metric tons of pulses valued at $171.280 million and $48,000 were exported during the period under review, the data revealed.

Meanwhile, the exports of tobacco increased by 64.92 percent and spices by 21.37 percent respectively as 14,239 metric tons of tobacco worth $44.919 million and 19,500 metric tons of spices valued at $57.125 million were exported during the last six months of the current financial year.

It may be recalled here that during the period under review, the exports increased by 5.17 percent to $14.981 billion compared to the exports of $14.244 billion during the corresponding period of last year, according to the latest PBS data.

On the other hand, the imports narrowed by 16.28 percent and were recorded at $26.129 billion compared to $31.209 billion last year.