The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has decided to harmonize exports and imports data in collaboration with the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

The issue of discrepancies in trade data was discussed in the 6th meeting of the Coordination Committee for Macro-Economic Framework under the chairmanship of the Additional Finance Secretary (Budget).

The Chief Economist at the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Member (National Accounts) Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Chief (Macro) M/o Planning, Development & Special Initiatives (MA) PD&SI), Director (Trade Policy) M/o Commerce, Deputy Chief (Macro) MTh PD&SI and senior officers of the Finance Division attended this meeting.

Based on the meetings discussions, it was finalized that the harmonization of exports and imports data will address the widening gap between the trade data reported by SBP and PBS during the year 2020-21, as reported by ProPakistani.

Removing discrepancies from trade data will not only allow the Pakistan to have a clear estimate of its exports and imports portfolio, but will also enable the government in improving the data-driven decision making and the design of its export enhancement policies.