Trade gap shrinks significantly

Pakistan’s exports fell nearly a quarter in the first month of fiscal year 2022-23, and 5.2 percent in the previous fiscal year, according to figures released Tuesday by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).Similarly, imports fell 38.3 percent from the previous month and 12.8 percent from the same month a year ago, according to The News.

According to the monthly trade report, goods exports in July 2022 were $2.219 billion, up from $2.92 billion in June 2022 and $2.43 billion in July 2021.In July 2022, the country’s imports of goods totaled $4.86 billion. The economy’s imports were $7.88 billion in June 2022, and the monetary volume of imports was $5.575 billion in July 2021.The trade deficit shrank by 18.3 percent in July 2022 to $2.64 billion, down from $3.235 billion in July 2021.

The shortfall was $4.96 billion in June 2022. Imports were significantly reduced as the government banned a number of luxury items in order to manage the economy’s dollar shortage. Due to the exorbitant cost of oil imports, the country ran a record-high trade imbalance of $48.385 billion in the previous fiscal year. Imports totaled $80.18 billion in FY22, while exports totaled $31.07 billion.

Exports totaled $25.3 billion in FY2020, while imports totaled $56.38 billion, resulting in a $31.07 billion deficit. The PBS also released data on the services trade performance for July-June 2021-22.According to foreign trade figures for July-June 2021/22, local businesses imported more services than they exported. The trade imbalance in services increased 105.7 percent from $2.516 billion in FY21 to $5.175 billion in FY22.

The economy spent $12.14 billion on hiring foreign companies and $6.97 billion on selling services abroad. In the previous fiscal year, the country’s service exports (money inflow) were $5.945 billion, while imports (outflow) were $8.46 billion. This reflects a 17.2 percent increase in service exports and a 43.5 percent increase in imports. In June 2022, service exports were $646 million and imports were $1.37 billion, resulting in a $727 million deficit.In the previous month of May 2022, exports were recorded at $498 million and imports at $995 million with a deficit of $497 million.
During the month under review, exports went up by 29.7% and imports by 37.9% when compared to the previous month.Comparing June 2022’s services trade performance with the same month of the last year, exports jumped 11.75% and imports also surged 57.6%.
In June 2021, services exports stood at $578 million and imports at $871 million, with a deficit of $293 million. Comparing the deficit of both months, it increased by 148% in June 2022 over the corresponding month of last year.