Fiscal Year: Trade deficit 26.5% lower in 8 months

Islamabad: Pakistan Institute of Statistics (PBS) has said that in the first 8 months of this financial year, Pakistan's trade deficit decreased by 26.5 % to $ 15 billion 770 million, compared to $ 21 billion 460 million in the same period last year.

This reduction was mainly due to a double-digit reduction in exports following pressure from the foreign exchange reserves and government reform measures taken to reduce aggregate demand.

If you look at the data, on a monthly basis it fell 14.6 % in February to $ 900 million, compared to $ 2 billion 260 million in the same month last year.

Meanwhile, the annual trade deficit is projected to decline from $ 31 billion last year to about $ 12-19 billion during the current fiscal year by the Ministry of Commerce.

In addition, statistical data from the company shows that imports during the first 8 months of this fiscal were $ 31 billion 420 million, down 14.06% from $ 36 billion 560 million in the same period last year.

Similarly, the value of imported goods decreased by 1.71 in February and stood at $ 4 billion 70 million, up from $ 4 billion 140 million in the same period last year.

In the month of February, exports increased from Rs. 1.8 billion in the same month last year to $ 2 billion 140 million, an increase of 13.82%.

From July 2019 to February, export revenue increased by 3.65 and increased to $ 15 billion 64 million from Rs 15 billion 9 crores in the same month last year.

On the other hand, exports in the services sector increased by 5.18 percent on an annual basis to $ 3 billion 230 million in the first seven months of this fiscal.

However, on a monthly basis, the export revenue of the services sector declined by 0.21% in February to $ 49.61 million on an annual basis.

It is to be noted that export revenues of services during the year 19-2018 were recorded at $ 5 billion 370 million compared to last year's $ 5 billion 28 million which shows a slight increase.

Meanwhile, services exports were down 7 percent year-on-year to $ 5 billion 400 million in FY 2018.