LAHORE: Patron-in-Chief of the United Business Group (UBG), S M Tanveer has expressed deep concern over the alarming surge in Pakistan’s trade deficit which hit a four-year high of USD39.5 billion in the Fiscal Year 2025-26.
Reacting to the newly-released trade data showing a volatile 22 percent Year-on-Year (YoY) increase in the trade gap, he stated that the numbers serve as a wake-up call for policy-makers. The massive gap, driven by an 8 percent expansion in imports alongside a highly concerning 6 percent decline in exports, exposes deeper structural flaws that continue to suppress Pakistan’s industrial competitiveness on the global stage.
“We cannot achieve true economic sovereignty on borrowed capital or remittances alone,” he stressed. “The economy can only flourish through aggressive export-led growth externally and the robust revival of domestic commerce internally. This current trend is unsustainable for our national reserves and the survival of our industrial base.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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