Pakistan’s trade deficit swells 34% to hit $31 billion in FY21

KARACHI: Pakistan’s trade deficit has swollen 34 per cent during the fiscal year 2020/21, despite record exports, according to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Saturday.

The trade deficit stood at $31.05 billion during the fiscal year 2020/21, compared with the deficit of $23.16 billion in the preceding fiscal year.

The exports of the country went up 18.11 per cent to a record $25.27 billion during the period under review, compared with $21.39 billion in the preceding fiscal year.

Adviser to the Prime Minister for Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, in a tweet, said that the exports during the period under review were the highest-ever in the history of Pakistan. The previous highest was $25.10 billion in 2013/14.

Similarly, the import bill of the country registered a growth of 26.42 per cent to $56.32 billion during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021, compared with $44.55 billion in the preceding fiscal year, the data revealed.

The exports on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in June 2021 registered a growth of 68.36 per cent to $2.69 billion, compared with $1.6 billion in the same month of the last fiscal year.

The exports in June 2020 remained the highest on a monthly basis.

The imports during June 2021 also grew 69.75 per cent to $6.26 billion, compared with $3.7 billion. However, the trade deficit for the month sharply widened 71 per cent to $3.59 billion as against $2.1 billion in the same month of the last fiscal year.

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