According to figures issued on Tuesday by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Pakistan’s export of services staged a significant recovery in May, increasing by 19.77% and ending a four-month period of decline. Value-wise, the export of services increased from $515.14 million in May 2022 to $616.96 million in May 2023.
In the second half of the current fiscal year, the export of services showed significant development; however, in January, the export of services began to decline. Since the beginning of FY23, there has been a constant fall in the exports of goods.
The export of services saw a pitiful rise of 3.38 percent to $6.65 billion in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year compared to $6.43 billion in the same time previous year.
Due to the sharp devaluation of the rupee, service exports increased by 44.45% in value terms in 11MFY23 to Rs1.627 trillion from Rs1.126 trillion in the comparable months of the previous year.
The government’s forecasted $10 billion aim for services exports for FY23 appears to have been greatly underestimated. From $5.945 billion the year before to $6.968 billion in 2021–2022, the export of services increased by 17.20 percent.
In addition, the import of services decreased by 37.46 percent to $7.26 billion in July through May of FY23 from $11.61 billion in the same months of FY22. May saw an 11.84 percent decline in service imports, falling to $862.11 million from $977.85 million in May of previous year.
Finance and insurance, transportation and storage, wholesale and retail commerce, public administration, and military are only a few examples of the services that are exported. From 56 percent in 2005–2006, the services sector’s contribution to GDP rose to 61 percent in 2020–21.