Pakistan's trade deficit hits all-time high in November

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit has reached a whopping $20.59 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Friday.

The reversing trend in the trade deficit was witnessed for the fifth consecutive month as the merchandise trade deficit reached $4.96 billion in November, according to provisional data. This is the highest trade deficit recorded in a single month in terms of value.

Exports grew to $12.34bn during July-November, showing an increase of 26.68 per cent. The exports were recorded at $2.88 billion in the month of November.

The Imports grew by 69.17pc to $32.93bn with $7.84 billion import bill only in the month of November.

The trade deficit had widened to $15.61 billion during July-October of fiscal year 2021-22.

Exports grew by 24.71pc to $9.44bn during July-October from $7.57bn during the corresponding period of last year. Imports grew by 65.15pc to $25.06bn against $15.17bn over last year’s same period.