ISLAMABAD, Jan 19: Pakistan’s export of merchandise rose by 31.1 per cent in December 2005 and 23.8 per cent during the first half (July-Dec) of the fiscal year 2005-06, over the same periods last year. Official figures released by the commerce ministry on Thursday showed that value of exportable goods stood at $8.073 billion during the July-Dec 2005 period as against $6.522 billion in the same period last year.

On monthly basis, the export value of goods for Dec 2005 stood at $1.470 billion as against $1.30 billion in Dec 2004.

The annual target set for exports stood at $17bn. This means that for reaching the annual target, the export proceeds must cross the figure of $8.927bn during the second half (Jan-June) of the fiscal year 2005-06.

The massive increase recorded in the export during the period under review was attributable to the overall growth in exports of textile products, particularly readymade garments, which started picking up during the last few months.

Similarly, the export of leather goods also witnessed a growth during the period under review. The export of primary commodities, particularly rice and fish food, also registered an impressive growth during the period under review.

But at the same time, exports of sports and surgical goods were steadily on decline during the current fiscal year. The export of engineering goods also did not show any tangible growth during the first half of the current fiscal year.

The statistics showed that the import bill increased by 53.1 per cent to $13.654 billion during the July-Dec period of the current fiscal year as against $8.918 billion in the same period last year.

On monthly basis, the import bill stood at $2.475 billion in December 2005 as against $1.674 billion in the same month last year, indicating an increase of 47.9 per cent.

With this increase in the import bill, trade deficit increased by 132.9pc to $5.581bn during the period July-Dec 2005-06 as against $2.396 billion during the same period last year.

On monthly basis, the trade deficit increased by 84.8pc to $1.005bn in December 2005 as against $0.544bn in the same month last year. The increase in trade deficit was due to a massive increase in the import bill of petroleum products. The import bill of machinery, metal and consumer goods also widened the trade gap during the period under review.