Daily Times

The exports of services from the country witnessed an increase of 18.17pc during the first eight months of the current financial year (2021-22) as compared to the corresponding period of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported. The exports of services during July-February (2021-22) were recorded at US $ 4,492.02mn against the exports of US $ 3,801.18mn during July-February (2020-21), showing growth of 18.17pc.

The services’ imports also rose by 39.20pc by growing from US $ 5,089.31mn last year to US $ 7,084.40mn during the period under review. Based on the figures, the services trade deficit was recorded at US $ 2,592.38bn this year against the deficit of US $ 1,288.13bn during the last fiscal year, showing an increase of 101.25pc. On year-on-year basis, the services’ exports during the month of February 2022 grew by 13.73pc to US $ 547.07mn against the exports of US $ 481.02mn during February 2021. The imports also grew by 25.34pc from US $ 663.01mn in last February to US $ 831.01mn in February 2022, according to the data.

On month-on-month basis, the exports from the country went up by 4.98pc as compared to the exports of US $ 521.13mn in January 2022. The imports decreased by 17.40pc as compared the imports of US $ 1006.04mn in January 2022, the data revealed

Meanwhile, the merchandize exports from the country witnessed an increase of 24.67pc during the first three quarters of the current fiscal year (2021-22) as compared to the corresponding months of last year, the bureau reported.

The exports from the country were recorded at $23.298bn during July-March (2021-22) against the exports of $18.687bn recorded during July-March (2020-21), showing growth of 24.67pc.

The imports during the months under review also went up by 48.63pc by growing from $39.489bn last year to $58.691bn in July-March (2021-22).

Based on the data, the trade deficit during the period under review was recorded at $35.393bn, showing an increase of 70.14pc over the deficit of $20.802bn recorded during July-March (2020-21), the PBS data revealed.