ISLAMABAD: The country’s services trade deficit witnessed a reduction of 30pc during the first three quarters of the current financial year as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
During the period under review, the country’s services exports declined by 6.98pc, whereas services’ imports narrowed by 16.96pc, according to trade statistics released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The exports were recorded at $4.247 billion, as against the exports of $4.566 billion during the same period of last year. Similarly, services’ imports went down from $8.053 billion to $6.688 billion.
Based on the figures, the country’s services trade deficit during the period under review was recorded at $2.441 billion, as against the deficit of $3.487 during last year.
On a year-on-year basis, the country’s exports decreased by 17.11pc in March 2020 as compared to the same month of last year. The exports during March 2020 were recorded at $449.04 million, as against the exports of $541.75 million in March 2019.
The imports also witnessed a decrease of 24.72pc, from $828.97 million in March 2019 to $624.08 million in March 2020.
On a month-on-month basis, the services’ exports from the country decreased by 2.37pc in March 2020 when compared to the exports of $459.95 million in February 2020. On the other hand, imports into the country decreased by 27.34pc in March 2020 when compared to the imports of $858.96 million in February.
Meanwhile, the country’s merchandise trade deficit witnessed a significant reduction in the first ten months (July-April) of the current financial year, declining by 25.68pc when compared with the corresponding period of last year. During the period under review, the country’s exports registered about 3.92pc decrease, whereas imports witnessed a sharp decline of 16.50pc.
