ISLAMABAD, Feb 6 : Meat and meat preparations valuing $239.711 million were exported during the first half of the current financial year as compared to the exports of the corresponding period of last year.

During the period from July-December, 2023 over 59,310 metric tons of meat and meat products worth $239.711 million were exported as compared to the exports of 41,672 metric tons valued at $191.915 million of the same period of last year.

The meat and meat products exports during the period under review grew by 24.90 per cent as compared to the exports of the same period of last year, according to the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

Meanwhile, rice exports from the country during the first two quarters of the current financial year also grew by 76.53 per cent as 2.570 million metric tons of rice valued at $1.638 billion were exported as compared to the exports of 1.732 million metric tons costing $927.918 million in the same period of last year.

On the other hand, 2.252 million metric tons of rice of other verities valued at $1.270 million were also exported during the first half of the current financial year as compared to the exported of 1.464 million metric tons worth $645.380 million of the same period of last year.

During the period under review, the food group exports from the country grew by 49.84 per cent as compared to the exports of the corresponding period of last year as food commodities valued at $3.481 billion were exported as against the exports of $2.323 billion of the same period of the last year.

On the other hand, the food group imports into the country during the first two quarters of the current financial year went down by 19.48 per cent and recorded $3.957 billion as compared to the imports of $4.914 billion during the same period of last year.

It may be recalled here that during the period under review, the exports increased by 5.17 per cent to $14.981 billion compared to the exports of $14.244 billion during the corresponding period of last year, according to the latest PBS data.

On the other hand, the imports narrowed by 16.28 per cent and were recorded at $26.129 billion compared to $31.209 billion last year.