Pakistan's trade deficit diminished by 26.45% in last nine months

Pakistan's trade deficit reduced by 26.45% from July-March of FY2019-20 as compared to the corresponding period last financial year, a Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) report said.

During the period under review, the country’s exports registered about a 2.23% growth to reach $17.451 billion against exports of $17.071bn in the same period last financial year.

Meanwhile, imports reduced by 14.42%, going down from $40.679 billion in the first three quarters of the previous financial year to $34.814 billion in the same period of the current financial year.

Based on the figures, the trade deficit during the period under review was recorded at $17.363bn against the deficit of $23.608bn last financial year, showing a decline of 26.45%.

On a year-on-year basis, exports decreased by 8.46% to $1.808bn during March this year as against exports in March last year that had hit $1.974 billion

Imports also witnessed a sharp decline of 19.85% during the month from $4.116 billion in March 2019 to $3.299 billion in March 2020.

On a month-on-month basis, exports decreased by 15.56% in March 2020 when compared to exports of $2.140 billion in February 2020.

Likewise, imports declined by 21.17% in March 2020 as compared to imports of $4.185 million in February.