Trade deficit shrinks 10.2pc to $1.64bn in July

Exports rise 6pc while imports drop 2pc during the first month of FY21

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit witnessed a reduction of 10.24pc during the first month (July) of the current fiscal year (2020-21), as compared to the corresponding month of last year.

The country’s deficit in July 2020 stood at $1.640 billion, as against the deficit of $1.827 billion in July 2019, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

During the month under review, Pakistan’s exports registered an increase of 6.04pc, from $1.886 billion last year to $2 billion, whereas imports declined from $3.713 billion to $3.640 billion (1.97pc).

Meanwhile, on a month-on-month basis, the country’s exports increased by 25.08pc in July 2020 when compared with the exports of $1.599 billion in June 2020.

Likewise, the imports of the country declined by 2.12pc MoM as compared to the imports of $3.719 billion in June.

It is pertinent to mention that despite a challenging global environment, the country’s external account position remained stable during the last fiscal year (FY20).

According to PBS, Pakistan’s current account deficit continued to narrow, “even though both exports and imports have fallen sharply since the coronavirus outbreak”.

In FY20, the current account deficit shrank by 77.9pc to $2.9 billion (1.1pc of GDP) as against $13.4 billion in FY19 (4.8pc of GDP).

The country’s exports declined by 7.2pc to $22.5 billion in FY20 as compared to $24.3 billion last year, whereas imports declined by 18.2pc to $42.4 billion as compared to $51.9 billion last year. Consequently, the trade deficit reduced by 27.9pc to $19.9 billion in FY20 as against the deficit of $27.6 billion last year.

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