Pakistan exports plummet by 10% during July

Exports of Pakistan have plummeted by 10 percent during nine month (July – March) 2022-2023, official data revealed on Monday.

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed that exports slipped to $21.05 billion during first nine months of the current fiscal year as compared with $23.35 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.

On the other hand, country’s import plunged by 25 per cent to $43.94 billion during the period under review as compared with $58.86 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

Therefore, the trade deficit of the country contracted by 35.51 per cent to $22.9 billion during July – March 2022-2023 as compared with the deficit of $35.51 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.

The contraction in trade deficit may be attributed to restriction imposed by the government in May 2022 on import of luxury and non-essential items. Although the ban was lifted in August 2022 after pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Though the government lifted the import ban but the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) put in place restriction on issuance of letter of credit (LC) for import payment.

The trade deficit reduced by 60 percent to $1.46 billion in March 2023 when compared with $3.63 billion in the same month of the last year.

Exports of the country during the month under review recorded 15 percent decline to $2.37 billion as compared with $2.78 billion in the same month of the last year.

Meanwhile, import bill for the month of March 2023 plunged by 40 percent to $3.83 billion as compared with $6.41 billion in the same month last year.