Daily Times

The exports of services during the first two months of the current fiscal year decreased by 7.15 percent as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The services exports from the country during July-August (2019-20) were recorded at $809.03 million compared to the exports of $871.35 million during July-August (2018-19), showing decline of 7.15 percent, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

The imports of services into the country, however, increased by 10.58 percent during the period under review by going up from $1673.91 million last year to $1850.96 million.

Based on the figures, the overall service trade deficit during the first two months increased by 29.83 percent by going up from the deficit of $802.56 million last year to $1041.93 million during the current year.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the exports of services from the country declined by 11.27 percent during the month of August 2019 compared to August 2018. The services exports during the month were recorded at $390.41 million against $440 million.

The imports into the country, however increased by 30.57 percent by growing from $725.76 million during August 2018 to $947.63 million in August 2019, the PBS data revealed.

On month-on-month basis, the exports of services decreased by 6.74 percent in August 2019 when compared to the exports of $418.62 million recorded in July 2019.

The imports into the country increased by 4.9 percent in August 2019 when compared to the imports of $903.33 million in July 2019, according to the data.