ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit narrowed down by 30.18 percent in the first eight months (July-February) of the current fiscal year 2023-24 as it stood at $ 14.872 billion compared to $ 21.299 billion during the same period of last fiscal year, says the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The monthly data released by the Bureau noted that the country’s exports increased by nine percent ($1.681 billion) to $ 20.351 billion during July-February 2023-24 compared to $ 18.670 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

Imports declined by 11.87 percent to $ 35.223 billion during the first eight months of the current fiscal year as compared with $ 39.969 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.

Pakistan’s trade deficit contracts 33% to $13.2bn in 7MFY24

On a month-on-month basis, the trade deficit narrowed down by 13.49 percent to $ 1.712 billion in February 2024, as compared to $ 1.979 billion in January 2024. Exports recorded a 7.84 percent decline to $ 2.573 billion in February 2024 when compared with $ 2.792 billion in January 2024. Import increased by 10.19 percent to $ 4.285 billion in February 2024 when compared with $ 4.771 billion in January 2024.

The trade deficit narrowed by 1.95 percent on a year-on-year basis and stood at $ 1.712 billion in February 2024 compared to $ 1.746 billion during the same month of 2023.

The imports increased by 8.89 percent on a YoY basis and remained $ 4.285 billion in February 2024 compared to $ 3.935 billion in February 2024. The exports increased by 17.54 percent on a YoY basis and remained $ 2.573 billion in February 2024 compared to $ 2.189 billion in February 2023.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024