trade

Trade deficit narrows by 32.65% in 1st half of FY23

ISLAMABAD - Trade deficit witnessed a decline of 32.65 percent during the first half of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

The trade deficit during July-December (2022-23) was recorded at $17.133 billion against the deficit of $25.438 billion in July-December (2021-22), a decline of 32.65 percent.

The exports during the period were recorded at $14.249 billion against $15.125 billion last year, showing a decline of 5.79 percent.

On the other hand, the imports witnessed a sharp decline of 22.63 percent by falling from $40.563 billion last year to $31.382 billion during the current fiscal year.

On year-on-year basis, the exports from the country witnessed decline of 16.64 percent and were recorded at $2.304 billion in December 2022 against the exports of $2.764 billion in December 2021.

The imports also decreased to $5.161 billion in December 2022 from $7.580 billion in December 2021, showing negative growth of 31.91 percent.

On month-on-month basis, the exports during December 2022 declined by 3.64 percent when compare to the exports of $2.391 billion in November 2022.

The imports into the country also declined by 0.41 percent in December 2022 when compared to the imports of $5.182 billion in November 2022, according to the data.

Meanwhile, the services’ exports went up by 3.97 percent during the first five months (July-November) of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period of last year.

The service trade during the period under review was recorded at $2.259 billion against the exports of $2.172 billion last year.

Likewise, the import of services witnessed 11.83 percent decrease by going down from $3.483 billion last year to $3.071 billion during the current year, according to PBS break up of figures.