KARACHI: The country services trade deficit plunged by 26 percent during the first quarter (July-Sep) of this fiscal year (FY23) mainly due to higher exports proceeds and decline in imports.

According to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the country recorded a $647 million services trade deficit in July-Sep of FY23 down from $877 million in the same period of last fiscal year.

The detailed analysts revealed that services trade imports declined by 6 percent to $2.342 billion in the first quarter of this fiscal year compared to $2.497 billion in the same period of last fiscal year (FY22). During the period under review, highest imports on account of the transport sector amounted to $1.541 billion up from $1.128 billion. Travel imports decreased from $254 million to $232 million.

Similarly, services sector exports registered a 4.5 percent growth during the July-Sep of FY23. With the current surge, services sector’s exports reached $ 1.7 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year compared to $ 1.62 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal year, depicting an increase of $ 75 million.

Major increase in exports was registered in the travel sector from $150 million to $254 million in the first quarter of this fiscal year.

Month-on-Month basis, the services trade recorded a $172 million deficit with $566 million exports and $738 million imports in September 2022.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022