Daily Times

The trade deficit witnessed a decline of 41.16 percent during the first month of the current fiscal year (2023-24) as compared to the corresponding month of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

The trade deficit during the month under review was recorded at $1.607 billion against the deficit of $2.731 billion in July 2022, a decline of 41.16 percent.

The exports during the month were recorded at $2.057 billion against $2.250 billion last year, showing a decline of 8.57 percent. On the other hand, the imports witnessed a sharp decline of 26.44 percent by falling from $4.981 billion last year to $3.664 billion during July 2023.

On a month-on-month basis, the exports during June 2023 declined by 12.68 percent when compared to the exports of $2.356 billion in June 2023.

The imports into the country declined by 13.15 percent in July 2023 when compared to the imports of $4.219 billion in June 2023, according to the data.

Meanwhile, the deficit in services trade during the last fiscal year (2022-23) declined by 87.68 percent during compared to the corresponding period of fiscal year 2021-22. The services trade deficit was recorded at $1,036.334 million against the deficit of $5,840.11 million the previous year.

The services exports during the period increased by 2.78 percent by going up from $7,102.35 million in 2021-22 to $7,300.13 million in FY2022-23, according to PBS data.

On the other hand, the imports declined from $12,942.46 million to $8,019.58 million in FY2023, showing negative growth of 38.04 percent.