ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit has doubled in first quarter (July – September) 2021/2022 owing to sharp increase in import bill, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Monday.
The trade deficit has ballooned by 100.62 per cent to $11.66 billion during the first quarter of the current fiscal year as compared with the deficit of $5.81 billion in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal year.
The import bill posted an unprecedented growth of 65 per cent to $18.63 billion during the first quarter of the current fiscal year as compared with $11.28 billion in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal year.
The exports of the country registered 27 per cent growth to $6.96 billion during July – September 2021 as compared with $5.47 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.
The trade deficit on year on year (YoY) basis in September 2021 widened by 70 per cent to $4.1 billion as compared with the deficit of $2.41 billion. The import bill recorded an increase of 50.78 per cent to $6.48 billion in September 2021 as compared with $4.29 billion in the same month of the last year.
The exports also exhibited a growth of 26.13 per cent to $2.38 billion in September 2021 as compared with $1.88 billion in the same month of the last year.
