STAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD The exports of sports goods from the country witnessed an increase of 0.33 percent during the first eight months of current financial year (2019-20) as against the exports of corresponding period of last year. The country exported sports goods worth $ 199.248 million during July-February (2019-20) against the trade of $ 198.589 million during July-February (2018-19), showing growth of 0.33 percent, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported. The sports products that contributed in positive growth included footballs, exports of which increased from $ 99.161 million to $111.131 million, showing increase of 12.07 percent while the exports of all other sports products went up from $ 31.966 million to $ 34.067 million, witnessing upward growth of 6.57 percent. However, the exports of footballs decreased by 19.88 percent by going down from $67.462 million last year to $ 54.050 million during the period under review. Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the exports of sports products during February 2020, increased by 13.18 percent to $ 24.866 million when compare to the exports of $21.970 million during February 2019, the PBS data revealed. During the period under review, the exports of footballs increased by 14.17 percent while the export of gloves and other sports products increased by 12.65 and 10.77 percent respectively. On month-on-month basis, the exports of sports products increased by 5.08 percent in February 2020 when compared to the exports of $ 23.665 million in January 2020. During the month under review, the exports of footballs and gloves increased by 1.07 and 26.15 percent respectively while the export of all other sport products decreased by 10.43 percent, the data revealed. It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s merchandise trade deficit plunged by 26.06 percent during the first eight months of the current fiscal year (2019-20) as compared to the deficit of the same months of last year. During the period under review, the country’s exports registered about 3.62 per cent growth, whereas imports reduces by 13.81 per cent, according the foreign trade statistics, released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). During the period from July-February (2019-20), exports reached to $15.643 billion against the exports of $15.097 billion of the same period of last year, it added. Meanwhile, the country’s imports witnessed significant decrease of 13.81 % as these went down from $36.563 billion in first eight months of last financial year to $31.515 billion of same period of current financial year, it said.
