Pakistan’s trade deficit widens by 3pc amid exports fall
- By Web Desk -
- May 02, 2024
KARACHI: The trade deficit of Pakistan witnessed a surge of three percent month-on-month in April, climbing to 2.37 billion dollars compared to March 2024, ARY News reported on Thursday, quoting the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
As per the PBS data, the government failed to increase the exports and experienced a nine percent decline to $2.34 billion in April compared to March, while imports dropped by three percent to $4.72 billion.
Meanwhile, over 10 months in the current financial year, exports saw a notable nine percent increase, totaling $25.28 billion, while imports amounted to $44.79 billion, marking a four percent decrease.
In the current financial year, the 10-month trade deficit shrank by 17 percent, amounting to $19.51 billion. The trade deficit for the last 10 months of the financial year stood at $23.53 billion.
Earlier, Pakistan’s trade deficit shrank 30 percent 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.