Export of transport services falls 25.4pc in seven months FY19

ISLAMABAD: The export of various transport services generated a revenue of $425.639 million during the first seven months of the current fiscal year (2018-19).

However, as compared to the $572.050 million worth exports of last year, the export of transport services during the July-January FY19 witnessed a negative growth of 25.46pc, according to the latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The transport services, which contributed to the negative growth included air transport services, exports of which declined by 31.81pc, from $523.610 million last year to $357.030 million during the current year.

Among the air transport services, the export of passenger services decreased by 37.89pc, freight services by 64.21pc, while the trade of other air services declined by 19.63pc.

Similarly, the road transport services exports slipped by 1.3pc, from $38.660 million last year to $38.159 million during the first seven months of the current year. This decline in exports was witnessed only in freight exports while there was no trade in passenger service exports and other road transport services.

On the other hand, the export of sea transport services surged by 225.85pc during the period under review, as it went up from $7.350 million to $23.950 million.

Among the sea transport exports, the freight services increased significantly whereas there was no trade in passenger services. The export of all other sea transport services increased by 111.05pc during the period under review.

On a year-on-year basis, the export of transport services witnessed a decline of 38.64pc as it went down from $88 million in January 2018 to $54 million in January 2019.

However, on a month-on-month basis, the export of transport services increased by 1.48pc in January 2019 as compared to the exports of $53.330 million in December 2018, the PBS data revealed.

It is pertinent to mention that the overall services trade deficit shrank by 34.79pc during the first seven months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The services trade deficit during July-January FY19 was recorded at $2.091 billion, as against the deficit of $3.208 billion during July-January FY18, showing a decline of 34.79pc.

The import of transport services during the period under review decreased from $6.313 billion last year to $5.169 billion (-18.11pc) while its exports witnessed slight negative growth of 0.88pc and were recorded at $3.078 billion against the exports of $3.105 billion during the same period of last year.

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