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Thursday March 28, 2024

Trade deficit widens 15pc to $16bln in July-March

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reco­rded a foreign trade deficit of $16.113 billion during the first nine months of 2014/15 fiscal year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data showed on Tuesday, posing a risk to balance of payments position.The trade deficit – an excess of imports over exports – widened 15.43 percent

By Israr Khan
April 15, 2015
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reco­rded a foreign trade deficit of $16.113 billion during the first nine months of 2014/15 fiscal year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data showed on Tuesday, posing a risk to balance of payments position.
The trade deficit – an excess of imports over exports – widened 15.43 percent compared with $13.96 billion recorded in July-March FY14.
Analysts believe that the widening deficit is alarming as it can put pressure on the country’s balance of payment position and the rupee.
The PBS monthly bulletin showed that goods exports fell 5.95 percent to $17.937 billion in July-March FY15 from $19.1 billion in the corresponding period a year ago. Imports, however, rose 3.08 percent to $34 billion from $33 billion.
The economy is unfortunately going to miss its goods exports target set for the current fiscal year. Only one-third of total exports target of $27 billion has been achieved.
The nine-month average monthly exports stood at $1.99 billion, indicating that if exports grow at the same pace the total goods exports can hardly hit $24 billion mark by this June-end.
According to the PBS data, exports increased only 2.5 percent to $1.93 billion in March over February when it was recorded at $1.88 billion. While over the same month (March) of the last year, exports decreased 13.4 percent, as during that month, the economy sold abroad products worth $2.23 billion.
In March, imports were recorded at $3.518 billion as against $3.346 billion in February, up 5.14 percent, while over March 2014 ($3.627 billion), it was down three percent. In March 2015, trade deficit widened by 8.5 percent to $1.586 billion as against $1.462 billion recorded in March 2014.
During the last 2013-14 fiscal year, the economy witnessed a huge trade deficit of $19.98 billion, which was 2.5 percent more than what was recorded in the preceding fiscal year. Exports were recorded at $25.13 billion in FY14 as against $24.46 billion in FY13, while imports rose 11.13 percent to $44.9 billion from $40.41 billion.
The medium-term (2012-15) Strategic Trade Policy Framework, which the government unveiled in January 2013, had set cumulative exports target of $95 billion in the three years. However, between July 2012 and March 2015, the exports performance has remained dismal and total exports figure was recorded at $67.56 billion.
The government had earmarked Rs26 billion to implement the policy, aiming at increasing regional trade and providing subsidies to the targeted groups to boost the exports. The current trade policy seems to miss the targets much like the previous policy of 2009-12.