ISLAMABAD, May 7 - Mobile phone imports into the country increased by 4.38 percent during the first nine months of the current year over the same period of last year.

The imports of mobile phones into the country during July-March (2012-13) were recorded at $536.7 million against imports of $514.18 million during July-March (2011-12), according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Similarly mobile phone imports into the country during the month of March 2013 increased by 23.81 percent and 51.37 percent when compared to imports during March 2012 and February 2013 respectively.

Mobile phone imports during March 2013 stood at $77.258 million against the imports of $62.34 million in March 2012 and $51.088 million in February 2013, the data revealed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the overall trade deficit during the first nine months of current fiscal year stood at $15.34 billion against the deficit of $16.2 billion, showing negative growth of 4.86 percent.

Meanwhile, the trade deficit during March 2013 stood at $2.211 billion against the deficit of $1.548 billion during February 2013 showing an increase of 42.83 percent.