Pakistan’s 9 Month Trade Deficit Reaches an All-Time High

Pakistan’s trade deficit widened by 70.1 percent during the first nine months (July-March) of the current fiscal year 2021-22.

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) the country’s trade deficit soared to $35.393 billion, which is the all time high trade balance as compared to $20.802 billion during the same period of 2020-21.

The country’s exports increased by 24.6 percent to $23.298 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year 2021-22 compared to $18.687 billion during the same period of 2020-21.

Imports were increased by 48.6 percent during the first nine months (July-March) of the current fiscal year. They increased to $58.691 billion as compared to $39.489 billion during the same period of the corresponding year, the PBS stated.

According to the PBS, the country’s trade deficit widened by 5.4 percent on a year-on-year basis, jumping from $3.267 billion in March 2021 to $3.446 billion in March 2022.

Imports registered an increase of 9.8 percent on a year-on-year basis and jumped from $5.631 billion in March 2021 to $6.186 billion in March 2022. Further, exports registered 15.9 percent growth on a year-on-year basis and increased from $2.364 billion in March 2021 to $2.74 billion in March 2022.

According to the PBS data, the trade deficit widened by 11.6 percent on a month-on-month basis from $3.087 billion in February 2022 to $3.446 billion in March 2022.

Imports increased by 4.7 percent on a month-on-month basis and remained $6.186 billion in March 2022 compared to $5.907 billion in February 2022. The country’s exports declined by 2.8 percent on a month-on-month basis in March 2022 and remained at $2.74 billion compared to $2.82 billion in February 2022.