Exports Rebound to $2.3 Billion after Falling for 6 Straight Months

Pakistan’s exports rebounded in March 2023 after six months of consecutive decline and stood at $2.367 billion compared to exports of $2.191 in the previous month (February 2023), registering an increase of 8 percent.

The imports into the country stood at $3.828 billion in March, down by 5.11 percent compared to the imports of $4.034 billion in the previous month, according to the trade data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Monday.

The trade deficit narrowed by 20.73 percent on a month-on-month (MoM) basis and stood at $1.461 billion in March 2023 compared to $1.843 billion recorded in the previous month.

Year-on-year basis

On a year-on-year basis exports in March witnessed a decline of 14.76 percent compared to exports of $2.777 billion in the same month of the previous year. The imports in March registered a negative growth of 40.25 percent compared to imports of $6.407 billion in March 2022.

The trade deficit narrowed by 59.75 percent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis to $1.461 billion in March 2023 compared to $3.630 billion in March 2022.

July-March FY23

The country’s exports during July-March of the current fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23) were recorded at $21.046 billion against the exports of $23.350 billion in July-March of FY22, showing a decline of 9.87 percent, according to the trade data.

The imports during July-March FY23 decreased by 25.34 percent from $58.859 billion last year to $43.946 billion during the current year.

The trade deficit narrowed by 35.51 percent to $22.9 billion during the first nine months July-March FY23 compared to $35.509 billion during the same period of last year.