ISLAMABAD: Trade deficit widened by 57.85 per cent during the first 11 months (July-May) of the current fiscal year 2021-22, and reached $43.334 billion compared to $27.452 billion during the same period of 2020-21, revealed the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data.

The country’s exports registered negative growth of 10.22 per cent on a month-on-month (MoM) basis, decreasing from $2.897 billion in April 2022 to $2.601 billion in May 2022.

According to the PBS monthly summary on foreign trade statistics for May 2022, the country’s exports increased by 27.78 per cent and remained $28.848 billion in the first eleven months of the current fiscal year, 2021-22, compared to $22.576 billion during the same period of 2020-21.

Imports increased by 44.28 per cent during the first eleven months (July-May) of the current fiscal year and stood at $72.182 billion compared to $50.028 billion during the same period of the previous year, the PBS stated.

PBS expands basket of selected items

According to the PBS, the country’s trade deficit widened by 11.50 per cent on a year-on-year basis, jumping from $3.626 billion in May 2021 to $4.043 billion in May 2022.

Imports registered an increase of 25.43 per cent on a year-on-year basis and jumped from $5.297 billion in May 2021 to $6.644 billion in May 2022.

Further, exports registered 55.66 per cent growth on a year-on-year basis and increased from $1.671 billion in May 2021 to $2.601 billion in May 2022.

Jul-Apr trade deficit widens 64.79pc to $39.264bn YoY

According to the PBS data, the trade deficit widened by 6.90 per cent on a month-on-month basis from $3.782 billion in April 2022 to $4.043 billion in May 2022.

Imports decreased by 0.52 per cent on a month-on-month basis and remained $6.644 billion in May 2022 compared to $6.679 billion in April 2022.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022