Pakistans trade deficit dropped by 21.42 percent, with a massive decline in imports and an upward trend in exports in the first quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal year against the corresponding period of last year.
Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data revealed that the exports during July-September (2022-23) were registered at $7.125 million compared to the exports of $6.996 billion in July-September (2021-22), indicating a growth of 1.84 percent.
Imports into the country declined by 12.72 percent during the period under review moving down from $18.715 billion last year to $16.334 during the existing year.
On the basis of figures, the trade deficit was recorded at $9.209 billion this year compared to the deficit of $11.719 billion last year, posting a negative growth of 21.42 percent. While on a year-on-year basis, the exports from the country registered a minor decline of 0.91 percent and were recorded at $2.387 billion in September 2022 compared to the exports of $2.409 billion in September 2021.
Similarly, the imports also dropped to $5.269 billion in September 2022 from $6.563 billion in September 2021, a negative growth of 19.72 percent.
PBS data further said that the exports during September 2022 declined by 3.83 percent, on a month-on-month basis, against the exports of $2.482 billion in August 2022.
The imports into the country also decreased by 13.21 percent in September 2022 against the imports of $6.071 billion in August 2022. However, the services exports witnessed an increase of 8.25 percent during the first two months (July-August) of the ongoing fiscal year against the same period of last year.
In addition, the service trade during the period under review was recorded at $1.130 billion compared to the exports of $1.043 billion last year. Likewise, the import of services increased by 1.15 percent by going up from $1.719 billion last year to $1.738 billion during the current year, as per PBS break up of figures.