ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit widened by 32.04 percent to $2.683 billion in December 2020 compared to $2.032 billion in December 2019, says the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The PBS on Thursday released trade figures showing that the country’s imports remained $5.035 billion in December 2020 compared to $4.020 billion in December 2019 registering 25.25 percent growth.
The country’s exports witnessed 18.31 percent growth and remained $2.352 billion in December 2020 compared to $1.988 billion in December 2019.
The data further revealed that Pakistan’s trade deficit widened by 25.55 percent to $2.683 billion in December 2020 compared to $2.137 billion in November 2020.
The country’s imports remained $5.035 billion in December 2020 compared to $4.311 billion in November 2020 registering 16.79 percent growth.
Exports witnessed 8.19 percent growth and remained $2.352 billion in December 2020 compared to $2.174 billion in November 2020.
The data further says that the country’s trade deficit widened by 6.44 percent to $12.423 billion in July-December 2020 compared to $11.671 billion in July-December 2019.
Trade figures shows that the country’s imports remained $24.521 billion in July-December 2020 compared to $23.195 billion in July-December 2019 registering 5.72 percent growth.
The country’s exports witnessed 4.98 percent growth and remained $12.098 billion in July-December 2020 compared to $11.524 billion in July-December 2019.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday tweeted, “I have received the regional export trends and this shows that, compared to our exports, the exports of India and Bangladesh for Nov/Dec 2020 showed negative growth. I wish once again to congratulate the exporters and the Ministry of Commerce for this achievement.”
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood on January 1, took to Twitter, and had stated, “It gives me immense pleasure to inform that, Alhamdolillah, according to provisional data, Pakistan exports for month of December 2020 have grown by 18.3 percent to $2.357 billion as compared to $1.993 billion in December 2019, an increase of $364 million over December 2019. This shows the resilience of the economy of Pakistan and it is a vindication of the government’s policy to keep the wheels of economy running during Covid-19 pandemic. I commend our exporters for achieving this feat during these testing times and them to aggressively focus on capturing a larger share of int'l trade.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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