The exports of services from the country witnessed an increase of 17.07pc during the first three quarters 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-March (2021-22) were recorded at US $5,156.10m against the exports of US $4,404.24m during July-March (2020-21), showing growth of 17.07pc. The services imports also rose by 31.33pc by growing from US $6,347.08m last year to US $8,335.39m during the period under review. Based on the figures, the services trade deficit was recorded at US $3,179.29b this year against the deficit of US $1,942.84b during the last fiscal year, showing an increase of 63.64pc. On year-on-year basis, the services’ exports during the month of March 2022 grew by 20.19pc to US $668.29m against the exports of US $556.03m during March 2021. The imports also grew by 25.29pc from US $744.00m in last March to US $932.15m in March 2022, according to the data. On month-on-month basis, the exports from the country went up by 24.93pc as compared to the exports of US $534.92m in February 2022. The imports also went up by 12.87pc as compared the imports of US $825.85m in February 2022, the data revealed. Meanwhile, the merchandize exports from the country witnessed an increase of 25.46pc during the first ten months of the current fiscal year (2021-22) as compared to the corresponding months of last year. The exports from the country were recorded at $26.228b during July-April (2021-22) against the exports of $20.905b recorded during July-April (2020-21), showing growth of 25.46pc. The imports during the months under review also went up by 46.41pc by growing from $44.731b last year to $65.492b in July- April (2021-22). Based on the data, the trade deficit during the period under review was recorded at $39.264b, showing an increase of 64.79pc over the deficit of $23.826b recorded during July- April (2020-21). Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the exports of the country increased by 29.53pc during April 2022 as compared to the exports of same month of last year. The exports during April 2022 were recorded at $2.873b against the exports of $2.218b in April 2021, the data revealed. The imports into the country increased from $5.242b in April 2021 to $6.615b in April 2022, showing growth of 26.19pc.