Pakistan's trade deficit witnesses 27 percent decline  

KARACHI: Trade deficit in the country has witnessed a 27 percent decline in first eight months of the ongoing fiscal year 2019-20, remaining at US$15.77 billion, ARY NEWS reported.

The month of February 2020 witnessed a 15 percent decline in the trade deficit and stood at  $1.93 billion, said a report issued by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The exports also witnessed a four percent increase, that is $15.64 billion, during the first eight months of the fiscal year. “The month of February also witnessed a 14 percent increase as compared to the same month of the previous year,” the report highlighted, showing a $2.14 billion exports in February 2020 as compared to the same month in 2019.

The country’s imports stood at $31.42 billion, witnessing a 14 percent decline during the first eight months of the ongoing fiscal year.

“The month of February in 2020 witnessed a two percent decline in imports and remained at US$ 4.14  as compared to the same month previous year which saw imports of items worth upto US$4.14,” the report said.

Read More: IT exports surged 23 per cent during first five months of FY 2019-20 

Adviser to Prime Minister for Commerce, Industry and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood on Monday said that the February 2020 has witnessed a 13.61 percent rise in exports from the country as compared to the past years.

In a message posted on his Twitter account, the federal adviser said that the country’s exports witnessed a 3.62 increase during the current fiscal year as compared to the previous years.

“The increase is commendable when compared to the export trend of our competitors. This is just the beginning, the future holds much more!” he said while tagging his message to the prime minister Imran Khan and others on the Twitter feed.