Tea imports up 108 first quarter

ISLAMABAD: The tea imports into the country increased by 10.79 percent during the first quarter of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of last year.The tea imports into the country were recorded at $134.448 million during July-September (2016-17) compared to the imports of $121.355 during July-September (2015-16), showing growth of 10.79 percent, according to the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).In terms of quantity, the tea imports into the country increased by 46.49 percent by going up from the imports of 39,537 metric tons last year to 57,916 metric tons during the period under review.Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the tea imports into the country increased by 1.52 percent during the month of September 2016 compared to the same month of last year.The tea imports during September 2016 were recorded at $40.253 million compared to the imports of $39.650 million in September 2015, according to PBS data.On month-on-month basis, the tea imports into the country during September 2016 decreased by 22.74 percent when compared to the imports of $52.098 million imports during August 2016.The overall food group imports into the country increased by 9.7 percent during July-September (2016-17) by going up from $1.239 million last year to $1.359 million, the data revealed.It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s exports during first quarter of current fiscal year fell by 8.98 per cent to $4.681 billion from $5.143 billion in same period of last year.The imports rose to $11.746 billion in July-September 2016-17 from $10.611 billion in first three months of the year 2015 16 thus showing an increase of 10.7 per cent.Based on the figures, the trade deficit widened by 29.21 per cent during the period under review as it went up to $7.065 billion in July September (2016 17) as against the trade deficit of $5.468 billion in same period of last year.