ISLAMABAD: Trade deficit widened by 106.4 percent during the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year 2021-22 and reached $25.478 billion compared to $12.344 billion during the same period of 2020-21, revealed the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data.

The Ministry of Commerce and the PBS are not on the same page as a significant difference was evident in the trade figures for (July-December 2021) released by the two with two days gap.

According to the PBS, the country’s exports declined by 5.55 percent on month-on-month basis and remained $2.740 billion in December 2021 compared to $2.901 billion in November 2021.

The country’s exports increased by 24.7 percent and remained $15.102 billion in the first half of current fiscal year compared to $12.110 billion during the same period of 2020-21.

Imports increased by 65.94 percent during the first half of the current fiscal year and stood at $40.580 billion compared to $24.454 billion during the same period of the corresponding year, stated the PBS.

However, according to the Commerce Ministry, during the first half of the current financial year, exports increased by 25 percent to $15.125 billion as compared to $12.110 billion during the corresponding period of last year.

According to the PBS, the country’s trade deficit widened by 85.38 percent on year-on-year basis jumping from $2.620 billion in December 2020 to $4.857 billion in December 2021.

Jul-Dec 2021: Trade deficit touches $25bn mark

Imports registered an increase of 52.37 percent on year-on-year basis and jumped from $4.986 billion in December 2020 to $7.597 billion in December 2021.

Further exports registered 15.8 percent growth on year-on-year basis and increased from $2.366 billion in December 2020 to $2.740 billion in December 2021.

However, according to the Commerce Ministry, during December 2021, Pakistan’s imports decreased by $1 billion to $6.9 billion as compared to $7.9 billion in November 2021.

Further during December 2021, the imports increased by 37.9 percent to $6.901 billion as compared to $5.005 billion in December 2020, reflecting wide difference when compared to the PBS data.

According to the Commerce Ministry, exports during December 2021 increased by 16.7 percent to $2.761 billion as compared to $2.366 billion in December 2020, which also differs from the PBS data.

According to the PBS data, trade deficit narrowed by 2.81 percent on month-on-month basis from $4.998 billion in November 2021 to $4.857 billion in December 2021.

Imports declined by 3.82 percent on month-on-month basis and remained $7.597 billion in December 2021 compared to $7.899 billion in November 2021.

Exports declined by 5.55 percent on month-on-month basis and remained $2.740 billion in December compared to $2.901 billion in November 2021.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021