Pakistan’s textile sector exports witnessed a significant decline of 15% in July, clocking in at $1.31 billion compared to $1.54 billion recorded in the same month of the previous year, showed provisional data released by the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) on Wednesday.

Data showed the country’s textile exports in the first seven months of 2023 decreased by 21% to $9.09 billion, declining from $11.48 billion a year earlier.

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The decline is concerning for the South Asian economy, which is heavily dependent on exports to generate much-needed foreign exchange, as it deals with low reserves.

Although forex reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) have improved significantly, currently treading at $8.2 billion amid inflows from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and bilateral partners including Saudi Arabia and UAE, reserves remain under pressure on account of external debt servicing.

Meanwhile, the country’s exports declined by 12.68% on a month-on-month (MoM) basis in the first month of the current fiscal year 2023-24 and remained $2.057 billion compared to $2.356 billion in June 2023, as per latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, exports witnessed a decline of 8.57% and were recorded at $2.057 billion in July 2023 against the exports of $2.250 billion in July 2022.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s trade deficit narrowed by 13.35% on a MoM basis and remained $1.607 billion in July 2023 compared to $1.863 billion in June 2023.