Trade deficit widened by 55.29% in FY2021-22

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit widened by 55.29% during fiscal year 2021-22, and reached $48 billion, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) revealed on Monday.

According to the provisional data, the country’s exports increased by 25% and remained $31.765 billion in the fiscal year, 2021-22, compared to $25.16 billion recorded during the same period of 2020-21.

Imports increased by 41% during the (July-June) of the last fiscal year and stood at $80.51 billion compared to $56.12 billion during the same period in the fiscal 2020-2021 year, the PBS stated.

The trade deficit recorded surge of 33.42pc in the month of June and stood at $4.83 billion as compared to May 2021-22.

In the month of June only, the imports were recorded $7.72billion while the exports were recorded at $2.88 billion during the same period, the data released by the PBS said.

Meanwhile, the incumbent government has been actively pursuing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive its stalled Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme.

Last week, Pakistan received combined economic and financial targets for the seventh and eighth reviews of its IMF bailout programme, said Finance Minister Miftah Ismail.

On Twitter, Miftah said the government had received the lender’s Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) for both reviews, following meetings last week between the two sides.