Pakistan's trade deficit contracts 30pc in Jul-Feb FY24

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit shrank 30% to $14.9 billion during the first eight months of the current fiscal year.

The monthly data released by the Bureau noted that the country’s exports increased by nine percent ($1.681 billion) to $ 20.351 billion during July-February 2023-24 compared to $ 18.670 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

Imports declined by 11.87 percent to $ 35.223 billion during the first eight months of the current fiscal year as compared with $ 39.969 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.

On a month-on-month basis, the trade deficit narrowed down by 13.49 percent to $ 1.712 billion in February 2024, as compared to $ 1.979 billion in January 2024. Exports recorded a 7.84 percent decline to $ 2.573 billion in February 2024 when compared with $ 2.792 billion in January 2024. Import increased by 10.19 percent to $ 4.285 billion in February 2024 when compared with $ 4.771 billion in January 2024.

The trade deficit narrowed by 1.95 percent on a year-on-year basis and stood at $ 1.712 billion in February 2024 compared to $ 1.746 billion during the same month of 2023.

The imports increased by 8.89 percent on a YoY basis and remained $ 4.285 billion in February 2024 compared to $ 3.935 billion in February 2024. The exports increased by 17.54 percent on a YoY basis and remained $ 2.573 billion in February 2024 compared to $ 2.189 billion in February 2023.