Mobile phone import 7.68% rise eight months

ISLAMABAD (APP): Mobile phone imports are on the rise in the country, touching $ 465 million in first eight months (July-Feb) of the current fiscal year 2014-15.

This means the import of mobile phones has witnessed an increase of 7.68 percent during the period as compare to same term last year.

According to provisional figures from Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the cell phone imports during these eight months amount to US $ 465.658 million which represents an increase of US $ 33.225 million over the $ 432.433 million spent on imports during last fiscal year.

When comparing the February 2015 data on a month over month and year over year basis, mobile phone imports in the country rose by 28.61 percent and 62.82 percent over the imports during February 2014 and January 2015 respectively.

The imports during February 2015 amount to US$ 73.161 million which represents an increase of US $ 16.279 million over US $ 56.882 million spent on imports during the month of February 2014.

Similarly, there was an increase of US $ 28.228 million over US $ 44.933 million spent on mobile imports during the month of January 2015.

The PBS data also revealed a similar increase in overall telecom imports in the country, which rose by 15.43 percent during the July-February period of the current fiscal year over the same term last year.

The telecom imports during this period amount to US $ 961.965 million, representing an increase of US $ 128.566 million over imports of US $ 833.399 million during last fiscal year. Based on a month over month and year over year comparison for the month of February 2015, telecom imports in the country rose by 7.59 percent and 21.87 percent over the imports during February 2014 and January 2015 respectively.

The imports during February 2015 amount to US $ 115.454 million which represents an increase of US $ 8.143 million over US $ 107.311 million spent on imports during the month of February 2014.

Similarly, there was an increase of US $ 20.076 million over US $ 95.378 million spent on telecom imports during the month of January 2015.