ISLAMABAD, Jan 17: The import value of Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) fell by 46.21 per cent to Rs492 million in December of the current financial year against Rs914.783 million during the same month last year.

Official figures made available to Dawn on Wednesday showed that the total import value of ATT in the first six months of the current financial year declined by 21.14 per cent to Rs4.14 billion against Rs5.25 billion over the corresponding months of last year.

Official sources told Dawn that following the US-led attacks on Afghanistan, the import value of the ATT came to a standstill.

Moreover, the Afghan importers were reluctant to take their goods into Afghanistan on the plea that it was not safe.

The Afghan importers had also sought permission from the Pakistani government to allow them to clear their goods in Pakistan while paying full taxes.

It may be added that since September 11 incident, however, it was only in the month of September in which the ATT value witnessed an increase of 43.87 per cent to Rs1.21 billion against Rs0.841 billion during the same month last year.

According to the official, the import value of ATT will register growth in the next months and the declining trend was arrested to some extent in the month of December.

He said that the import value of ATT fell by 99.95 per cent to Rs0.367 million in November against Rs846.799 million during the same month last year.

The official attributed the shortfall in the ATT import value to the recent developments in the region.

The ATT has certainly slowed down, whereas normally 25-30 consignments were daily cleared through Karachi, now daily clearance come down to 10 to 15, the official added.

Further break-up showed that the total import value of ATT witnessed a decline of 31.22 per cent during the July-December period of current financial year in comparison to the same period of 1999-2000, as it stood at Rs4.14 billion this year against Rs6.02 billion during the same period in 1999-2000.

On monthly basis, the import value of ATT declined by 55.65 per cent in October and stood at Rs0.298 million this year against Rs0.672 million over the corresponding month of the last year.