ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit widened by 23.93 percent on year-on-year basis to $2.517 billion in February 2021 compared to $2.031 billion in February 2020, says the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The PBS, on Wednesday, released trade figures showing that the country’s exports registered 4.12 percent decline in February 2021 and stood at $2.049 billion compared to $2.137 billion in February 2020. The country’s imports remained $4.566 billion in February 2021 compared to $4.168 billion in February 2020, registering 9.55 percent growth.

Trade deficit narrowed by 5.87 percent to $2.517 billion in February 2021, compared to $2.674 billion in January 2021. Pakistan’s exports declined by 4.52 percent and stood at $2.049 billion in February 2021 against $2.146 billion in January 2021.

The country’s imports remained $4.566 billion in February 2021, compared to $4.820 billion in January 2021 registering 5.27 percent negative growth. The data further says that the country’s trade deficit widened by 10.64 percent to $17.536 billion in July-February 2020-21 compared to $15.850 billion in July-February 2019-20.

Trade figures show that the country’s imports remained $33.840 billion in July-February 2020-21 compared to $31.483 billion in July-February 2019-20, registering 7.49 percent growth.

The country’s exports witnessed 4.29 percent growth and remained $16.304 billion in July-February 2020-21 compared to $15.633 billion in July-February 2019-20. Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood on March 1, 2021 took to Twitter, and shared trade data, according to which, exports crossed $2 billion mark for the fifth consecutive months.

“Our exports for Feb-2021 (28 days) stand at $2,044 million as compared to $2,140 million for Feb-2020 (29 days), a decline of 4.5 percent. For 8-months (Jul-Feb 2021) of the current financial year, our exports increased by 4.2 percent at $16,300 million as compared to $15,643 million during Jul-Feb 2020,” he added.

However, on March 2, 2021, he again tweeted and stated that according to the provisional data, imports during Jul-Feb 2021 of this financial year increased by $2.085 billion i.e. 6.6 percent and remained $33.600 billion as compared to $31.515 billion during the same period of last fiscal year.

However, according to the PBS data, imports increased by 7.49 percent during this period. According to the data shared by the adviser, trade deficit widened by 9.9 percent in July-February 2020-21, and remained $17.301 billion compared to $15.872 billion, during the same period of last year. But according to the PBS, trade deficit widened by 10.64 percent, during the first eight months of the current fiscal year.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021