Pakistan's trade deficit widened by 57% during fiscal year 2021-22, and reached $48.67 billion compared to $30.96 billion during the fiscal year 2020-21, revealed official provisional data, shared by Arif Habib Limited (AHL) on Monday.
The country’s exports registered a growth of 10% on a month-on-month (MoM) basis, increasing from $2.63 billion in May 2022 to $2.89 billion in June 2022.
According to the provisional data, country’s exports increased by 27% and remained $31.85 billion in the fiscal year, 2021-22, compared to $25.16 billion recorded during the same period of 2020-21.
Imports increased by 43% during the (July-June) of the last fiscal year and stood at $80.51 billion compared to $56.12 billion during the same period in fiscal 2020-2021 year, the PBS stated.
July-May trade deficit widens 57.85pc to $43.334bn YoY
A widening trade gap has become a headache for policymakers, as the country struggles to curb an outflow of dollars, which puts pressure on the currency.
Meanwhile, the incumbent government has been actively pursuing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive its stalled Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme.
Last week, Pakistan received combined economic and financial targets for the seventh and eighth reviews of its IMF bailout programme, said Finance Minister Miftah Ismail.
On Twitter, Miftah said the government had received the lender's Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) for both reviews, following meetings last week between the two sides. The IMF programme is widely seen as crucial for Pakistan's economy, which has struggled with high inflation and a widening current account deficit.
Meanwhile, the country’s trade deficit widened by 37% on a year-on-year basis, jumping from $3.55 billion in June 2021 to $4.85 billion in June 2022.
Imports registered an increase of 26% on a year-on-year basis and jumped from $6.28 billion in June 2021 to $7.74 billion in June 2022.
Further, exports registered 6% growth on a year-on-year basis and increased from $2.73 billion in June 2021 to $2.89 billion in June 2022.
Provisional figures show that the trade deficit widened by 17% on a month-on-month basis from $4.15 billion in May 2022 to $4.85 billion in June 2022.
Imports increased by 14% on a month-on-month basis and remained $7.74 billion in June 2022 compared to $6.78 billion in May 2022.
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