ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit has doubled to $24.8 billion during first half (July – December) of 2021/2022 1HFY22. The trade deficit was $12.36 billion in the same half of the last fiscal year.
The import bill of the country surged by 63 per cent to $40 billion during the first half of the current fiscal year as compared with $24.47 billion in the same half of the last fiscal year, according to data shared by Arif Habib Limited.
The exports registered a growth of 25 per cent to $15.13 billion during first six months of the current fiscal year as compared with $12.11 billion in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.
The trade deficit for the month of December 2021 contracted by 18 per cent to $4.14 billion as compared with $5.03 billion in November 2021.
Import bill of the country declined by 13 per cent to $6.9 billion in December 2021 as compared with $7.93 billion in November 2021. Meanwhile exports of the country also fell by five per cent to $2.76 billion in December 2021 as compared with $2.9 billion in November 2021.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit ballooned by 112 per cent to $20.59 billion during the first five months (July – November) of the current fiscal year 2021/2022, according to official data released on Thursday.
The trade deficit was at $9.72 billion in the same months of the last fiscal year, revealed by the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
Pakistan’s import bill surged by 69.17 per cent to $32.934 billion during July – November 2021/2022 as compared with $19.468 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.
The exports of the country also exhibited by 26.68 per cent to $12.344 billion during the period under review as compared with $9.744 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
The country reported $4.963 billion as trade deficit for the month of November 2021. The trade deficit has swelled by 134 per cent in November 2021 as compared with the deficit of $2.121 billion in the same month of the last year.
The import bill registered a phenomenal growth of 82.83 per cent to $7.847 billion in November 2021 as compared with $4.292 billion in the same month of the last year.
The exports also grew by 33 per cent to $2.884 billion in November 2021 as compared with $2.171 billion in the same month of the last year.
Miftah Ismail, Former Federal Minister for Finance, has pointed out key reasons behind the massive depreciation in Pak Rupee (PKR) against the dollar.
Ismail, who is also General Secretary of PML-N Sindh, in his Tweet on Sundh pointed out a thread on the four main reasons for the recent precipitous decline in the value of the rupee.
A: Uncertainty about the renewal of the IMF program
B: Largest trade deficit and fastest-growing imports in history
C: Fourth highest inflation rates among major countries.
D: Rapid increase in the money supply.
Ismail explained that uncertainty about the renewal of the IMF program behind the rupee weakness.
The former finance minister said: “Our program was ‘revived’ earlier this year and we were supposed to get a $1 billion tranche in July 2021. We are now in November and still, there isn’t an agreement. This is giving markets jitters.”
In his opinion largest trade deficit and fastest-growing imports are the second major reason for the rupee fall.
“We are on track for imports of $75 billion or over 24 per cent of the GDP. Both these are the highest in history. This year exports will cover only 37 per cent of imports, down from 44 per cent in 2018. We are moving in the wrong direction.”
Our trade deficit in on track to be $47 billion or 15 per cent of the GDP. Again both numbers are highest in the history. Current account deficit will be around 5 per cent of the GDP. But for the healthy remittances due to decreased travel etc. we would have recorded the second-highest current account deficit
The former finance minister said that in our history, after the one of 8.1 per cent in 2007/2008, the last year of Gen. Musharraf. The increased net demand of dollars from foreign trade is thus putting pressure on the Pak rupee. “Until we slow down imports or increase exports, the rupee will continue to be under pressure.”
Another reason highlighted by the former finance minister is the highest inflation rates among major countries.
A recent issue of The Economist showed that Pak has the fourth-highest inflation among major counties, two of whom we don’t even have much trade with. “We also have the highest inflation in South Asia.”
Given that our inflation is more than our trading partners, our exports goods become more expensive and import goods become cheaper. This increases our real effective exchange rate and puts pressure on the rupee.
Miftah Ismail continued that our money supply has grown from Rs 4.7 trillion to Rs 7 trillion, an increase of 49 per cent.
Dr Hafeez Pasha estimates that a 1 per cent increase in money forces a 0.6 per cent rise in inflation. The primary cause of money supply increase is record-high government budget deficits.
“There are other reasons for the continuous devaluation, political uncertainty for one, but these four —-interlinked as they are— I think are the major reasons.”
Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar in his tweet replied to Miftah Ismail saying: “I thought Miftah sahib was reminiscing about PML-N’s economy. Back then they managed to create such conditions without Covid shocks. The truth is that trade deficit now has risen due to price effect (same goods but more $ outflow due to high prices) rather than volume effect.”
ISLAMABAD: The import bill of Pakistan surged by 65.15 per cent during the first four months (July – October) of 2021/2022, according to official statistics released on Tuesday.
The import bill increased to $25.06 billion during the first four months of the current fiscal year as compared with $15.17 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year, according to data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
On the other hand, exports of the country registered a growth of 24.71 per cent to $9.44 billion during the first four months of the current fiscal year as compared with $7.57 billion in the corresponding months of the last year.
The trade deficit of the country swelled by 105.43 per cent to $15.62 billion during July – October of the current fiscal year as compared with the deficit of $7.60 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.
The trade deficit widened by 117 per cent to $3.88 billion in October 2021 when compared with the deficit of 1.789 billion in the same month of the last year.
The import bill during the month of October 2021 increased by 63 per cent to $6.334 billion as against $3.89 billion in the same month of the last year.
Similarly, the exports exhibited a growth of 16.52 per cent to $2.45 billion in October 2021 as compared with $2.1 billion in the same month of the last year.
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.
Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Division Omar Ayub Khan, Secretary Commerce, Secretary M/o Information Technology, Secretary Finance Division, Governor State Bank of Pakistan Dr. Reza Baqir, Executive Director General BOI, and other senior officers participated in the meeting.
Adviser for Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood participated through a video link.
Secretary Commerce briefed the participants about the trade balance situation over the last two months.
Considering the expansion in economic activity, the import of one-time items like vaccines for COVID-19 as well as increased demand for raw materials has resulted in increasing imports during July and August 2021.
In his remarks, the Finance Minister stated that the economy is in a state of growth. As the economy registered a growth rate of 4 per cent during FY2021, there is an increased demand for imports.
As long as the trade deficit is within a sustainable level, it will stimulate economic recovery, he added.
The Finance Minister stressed upon the Ministry of Commerce to conduct sensitivity analysis and build scenarios for effective forecasting both in imports as well as exports for each month of the year.
In his concluding remarks, the Finance Minister said that the prudent policies adopted by the present government have stimulated economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The economy is heading in the right direction.
The enhanced revenue collection along with improved ratings (Business Confidence Index and by international credit rating agencies) indicates that the economy has gained momentum and is geared towards inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
The exports of the country increased by 27.59 per cent to $4.57 billion during the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared with $3.58 billion in the same months of the last fiscal year.
The import bill of the country registered a sharp increase of 72.59 per cent to $12.06 billion during July – August of 2021 as compared with $6.99 billion in the corresponding period of the last year.
The trade deficit widened even more sharply in August 2021 by 144 per cent to $4.23 billion when compared with trade deficit of $1.73 billion in August 2020.
The exports of the country were at $2.23 billion in August 2021 as compared with $1.58 billion in the same month of the last year, registering an increase of 41 per cent.
The import bill for the month of August 2021 was $6.46 billion when compared with $3.31 billion in the same month of the last year, showing a robust increase of 94.90 per cent.
The exports posted a decline of 4.53 per cent in August 2021 when compared with $2.34 billion in July 2021. However, the import bill increased by 15.39 per cent in August 2021 when compared with $5.6 billion in July 2021.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit has expanded significantly, rising by 21.6 percent during the first ten months (July–April) of fiscal year 2020–2021, according to official data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Wednesday. The increase in the trade deficit is attributed largely to a sharp surge in the country’s import bill, which has outpaced the growth in exports.
ISLAMABAD: The import bill has recorded an unprecedented growth of 70 percent in March 2021 as compared with the same month of the last year, according to data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The country spent $5.63 billion on the imports during March 2021 as compared with $3.31 billion in the same month of the last year.
Experts attributed the phenomenal rise in import bill during March 2021 due to significant decline in foreign trade in the same month of the last year because of restrictions imposed after coronavirus spread.
In March 2020 the government put a complete lockdown throughout the country in order to prevent spread of COVID-19.
Similarly in the month of March 2021, the exports recorded a sharp increase of 30.44 percent to $2.36 billion as compared with $1.81 billion in the same month of the last year.
Pakistan’s trade deficit has widened by 20 percent in first nine months (July – March) 2020/2021 owing to surge in import bill after ease in coronavirus related restrictions.
The trade deficit ballooned to $20.83 billion during first nine months of the current fiscal year as compared with $17.35 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
The import bill for the period of July – March 2020/2021 increased to $39.51 billion as compared with $34.79 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, showing a rise of 13.57 percent.
On the other hand exports also increased by 7.12 percent to $18.68 billion during the first nine months of the current fiscal year as compared with $17.44 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
ISLAMABAD: The trade deficit has been widened by 24 percent Year on Year (YoY) in February 2021 owing to increase in imports and decline in exports, according to data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday.
The import bill for the month of February 2021 increased to $4.56 billion as compared with $4.16 billion in the corresponding month of the last year, showing an increase of 9.55 percent.
However, the exports fell by 4.12 percent to $2.05 billion in February 2021 when compared with $2.13 billion in the same month of the last year.
The trade deficit widened by 10.64 percent to $17.536 billion in first eight months (July – February) 2020/2021 when compared with the deficit of $15.85 billion in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.
The imports posted 7.49 percent growth to $33.84 billion during first eight months of the current fiscal year as compared with $31.48 billion in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.
The exports registered an increase of 4.29 percent to $16.3 billion during July – February 2020/2021 as compared with $15.63 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
