ISLAMABAD: Trade deficit widened by 82.2 percent during the first eight months (July-February) of the current fiscal year 2021-22 and reached $31.959 billion compared to $17.535 billion during the same period of 2020-21, revealed the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data.

According to the PBS monthly summary on foreign trade statistics for February 2022, the country’s exports increased by 25.8 percent and remained $20.547 billion in the first eight months of current fiscal year 2021-22 compared to $16.323 billion during the same period of 2020-21.

Imports increased by 55 percent during the first eight months (July-February) of the current fiscal year and stood at $52.506 billion compared to $33.858 billion during the same period of the corresponding year, the PBS stated.

According to the PBS, the country’s trade deficit widened by 22.1 percent on year-on-year basis, jumping from $2.533 billion in February 2021 to $3.095 billion in February 2022.

H1 trade deficit widens 106.4pc to $25.48bn YoY

Imports registered an increase of 28.3 percent on year-on-year basis and jumped from $4.601 billion in February 2021 to $5.903 billion in February 2022. Further, exports registered 35.7 percent growth on year-on-year basis and increased from $2.068 billion in February 2021 to $2.808b billion in February 2022.

According to the PBS data, trade deficit narrowed by 9.6 percent on month-on-month basis from $3.427 billion in January 2022 to $3.095 billion in February 2022.

Imports declined by 2.2 percent on month-on-month basis and remained $5.903 billion in February 2022 compared to $6.041 billion in January 2022.

Exports increased by 7.4 percent on MoM basis and remained $2.808 billion in February 2022 compared to $2.614 billion in January 2022.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022