Daily Times

The country’s services trade deficit contracted by 50.91 percent during the first quarter (Q1) of the current financial year (2019-20) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The services trade deficit during July-September (2020-21) was recorded at $538.87 million against the deficit of $1097.82 million in July-September (2019-20), according to the latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The services exports during the two months under review were recorded at $1225.26 million against the exports of US $1295.26 million last year, showing negative growth of 5.4 percent. The imports into the country shrunk by 26.28 percent by falling from US $2393.08 million to US $1764.13 million, the PBS data revealed.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the services exports from the country increased by 12.66 percent and were recorded at $463.16 million in September 2020 against the exports of $411.12 million in September 2019.

On the other hand, the imports declined by 6.44 percent by falling from $577.17 million in September 2019 to $540 million in September 2020, the data revealed.

On month-on-month basis, the exports from the country witnessed increase of 29.75 percent in September 2020 when compared to the exports of $356.97 million in August 2020. Likewise, imports into the country increased by 17.65 percent in September 2020 when compared to the imports of US $458.99 million in August 2020.

Meanwhile, the country’s merchandize trade deficit witnessed reduction of 1.88 percent during the first four months of current fiscal year (2020-21) as compared to the deficit of the corresponding period of last year.

The deficit during the period was recorded at $7.577 billion as compared to the deficit of $7.722 billion last year, according to PBS data.

During the period under review, the country’s exports registered positive growth of 0.33 percent, by going down from $7.529 billion last year to $7.554 billion during the current year. On the other hand, the imports decreased by 0.79 percent, from $15.251 billion last year to $15.131 billion during the current year.