ISLAMABAD: On Wednesday, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Tarin said that the country’s trade deficit and inflation were on a declining trend as is indicated by the latest economic data. Addressing a press conference, the federal minister said that the trade deficit went down to the pre-Covid-19 position and was recorded at $3.1 billion during February 2022. He said the deficit went down by 28 percent compared to the previous month (January) and 35 percent when compared to December 2021. He asserted that if remittances of around $2.5 billion are deducted from this figure, the deficit in actual terms has come down to just $600 million, adding that this was an achievement that was not highlighted. Likewise, he said, Inflation in January 2022 was recorded at 12.95 percent which came down to 12.2 percent in February, adding that if price hike in tomatoes were excluded from this figure, the inflation was recorded around 10.8 percent, which means the decline of 2.2 percent in one month. Talking about the total figures, the minister said that the inflation from November to February has remained flat. Moreover, he said, if the impact of the international commodity cycle was excluded, the domestic inflation had been in control, adding that the international prices of oil, petrol and coal were affecting the prices in the country. He said the international prices could not be predicted adding even US President Biden had told his countrymen that they would have to bear this trend.