Pakistan's trade deficit soars to $35.393bn

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit ballooned by 70 per cent during the first nine months of the ongoing fiscal year, data shared by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Monday.

It said the trade deficit soared to $35.393 billion during July-March FY2022, compared to $20.802 billion during the same period of 2020-21.

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March’s trade deficit was $3.44 billion, the PBS‘s monthly data on foreign trade statistics showed. It increased by 5.48pc compared to March 2021 and by 11.63pc compared to Feb 2022.

The country’s exports increased by 15.91 per cent to $2.740 billion in March, compared to $2.364 billion in March 2021.

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March’s imports recorded an increase of 9.86pc and clocked in at $6.186 billion as against$5.631 billion during the same month last year.