Trade deficit in services narrows 29pc to $1.95bln in Jul-Dec

KARACHI: Trade deficit in services sharply narrowed 29.1 percent to $1.946 billion during the first half of the current fiscal year of 2018/19 as imports fell in double-digit in the period under review, official data showed.

Trade deficit in services amounted to $2.745 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) latest data showed.

In July-December, imports of services declined 16 percent to $4.546 billion, while services exports slightly dropped 2.42 percent to $2.6 billion.

In December, trade deficit in services shrank 21 percent year-on-year to $420 million.

Services exports, during the month, slid 12 percent year-on-year to $462.1 million, while imports of services decreased 16.2 percent year-on-year to $882 million.

In December, trade deficit in services widened 14.4 percent from $367 million in the preceding month. Services exports increased 20.1 percent from $385 million in November 2018, while imports of services rose 17.3 percent from $752 million.

PBS data further showed that financial services used to be the main category witnessing biggest decline among all services imported during the July-November period. Imports of the services fell 52.7 percent from $127 million during the period a year earlier. Personal, cultural and recreational services was the second recording a 52 percent decline from $2.09 million in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Charges for the use of intellectual services fell 33.3 percent from $114 million in the July-November period. Import payments on travel slid 32.2 percent from $895 million.

Import of government services declined 23 percent from $279 million a year ago.

Services whose imports rose

in the first five months of the current fiscal year included maintenance and repair services (126pc) and insurance pension services (15.3pc).

In July-November, charges for the use of intellectual services fell the highest 75 percent to one million dollar in the export group, followed by exports of financial services decreasing 55 percent to $29 million, maintenance and repair services decreasing 51.4 percent to two million dollars, insurance and pension services sliding 29 percent to $18 million, construction services dropping 20 percent to $24 million and personal, cultural and recreational services dipping 18 percent to five million dollars.

Services that registered increase in exports during the period under review included travel (14pc), government services (8.4pc), business services (2.95pc) and telecommunication, computer and information services (2.34pc), according to the PBS.