The country’s cellphone imports swelled by 56.74 percent to $1.53 billion during the first nine months (July–March) of the current fiscal year (2020-21) as compared with $980 million in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. According to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Saturday, the country imported mobile phones worth Rs248 billion during July–March 2020-21 as compared to Rs153 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. Market sources said that coronavirus pandemic had limited the physical movement, which had given rise to online transactions. Mobile phones have played a major role in promoting the digital economy. Further, the implementation of laws making it mandatory that only verified mobiles through the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to be activated for local services has also discouraged informal channels for the import of mobile phones. They said that the depreciation of the Pak Rupee had also an impact on the surge of mobile phone imports. An official in a cellphone company said that the mobile phone market is now upbeat with burgeoning demand in the price range of Rs10,000-40,000 in which many companies are competing with one another.