KARACHI, Oct 9: Pakistan’s exports in September 2001 increased by 2.46 per cent to $799.6 million when compared with $780 million in August, but imports in the same month fell by 17.11 per cent to $777 million as against $938 million in August.

Even if exports of September 2001 of $799 million were compared with exports of same period of 2000, it showed an increase of 4.30 per cent. Exports in September 2000 were $766 million, says provisional figures released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) on Tuesday.

Imports declined by 18.13 per cent in September 2001 to $777 million as compared to $950 million in the same period of 2000.

“Exports have increased due to shipments of old orders,” an exporter said fearing decline in October owing to slowdown in bookings by foreign buyers and delay in confirming letter of credits (LCs) after September 11 incident.

Exporters paint a gloomy picture of foreign exchange earnings in October and November in case the US intensifies attacks on Afghanistan. “The real impact of September 11 will be felt in the current month and next month,” they said.

The government had already warned of a possible decline in exports by $1.5 to $2 billion in the current fiscal in view of the current situations.

In July-September 2001, exports also rose by 1.77 per cent to $2.264 billion from $2.225 billion in the same period of 2000. However, imports registered a fall of 8.18 per cent to $2.507 billion in the first quarter of 2001 as compared to $2.730 billion in the corresponding period of 2000.

Product-wise comparison of exports in September 2001 with August 2001, showed that exports of rice plunged by 27.55 per cent, fruits by 37.58 per cent, crude animal material by 22 per cent, POL products by 26 per cent, sports goods by 21 per cent, leather goods by 25 per cent, surgical instruments by 33 per cent and cutlery items by 47 per cent.

If imports in September as compared to August are reviewed, out of 34 items selected by the FBS, imports of only eight items — dry fruits, tea, pulses, construction and mining machinery, petroleum crude, synthetic fibre, fertilizer and rubber crude — showed the increase while rest declined.

In July-September 2001, raw cotton saw major decline of 87 per cent followed by fall of 27 per cent in fruits, 45 per cent in tarpaulin and canvas, 18 per cent in synthetic textile fabrics, 28 per cent in carpets, cutlery and onyx each and 18 per cent in chemical and pharmaceuticals.

Similarly, notable decline in imports out of 34 selected items during July-September 2001 was seen in sugar by 82 per cent, jute by 45 per cent, milk powder by 56 per cent, soyabean oil by 58 per cent, petroleum products by 37 per cent and 18 per cent in medical products.