ISLAMABAD, APR 06 (APP): The country’s services trade deficit contracted by 41.8 percent during the first eight months of the current financial year (2020-21) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
The services trade deficit during July-February (2020-21) was recorded at $1338.58 million against the deficit of $2299.87 million in July-February (2019-20), according to the latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The services exports during the period under review witnessed slight down fall of 0.17 percent and were recorded at $3809.03 million against the exports of $3815.39 million last year.
On the other hand, the imports into the country shrunk by 15.82 percent by falling from $6115.26 million to $5147.61 million, the PBS data revealed.
Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the services exports from the country increased by 2.99 percent and were recorded at $484.08 million in February 2021 against the exports of $470.01 million in February 2020.
On the other hand, the imports witnessed a decrease of 23.59 percent by going down from $877.05 million in February 2020 to $670.12 million in February 2021, the data revealed.
On month-on-month basis, the exports from the country witnessed slight increase of 0.66 percent in February 2021 when compared to the exports of $480.92 million in January 2021.
On the other hand, imports into the country increased by 4.03 percent in February 2020 when compared to the imports of $644.15 million in January 2021, the PBS data revealed.
It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s merchandize exports increased by 7.12 percent during the first three quarters of the current fiscal year (2020-21) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
The exports from the country during July-March (2020-21) were recorded at $18.685 billion against the exports of $17.443 billion during July-March (2019-20), according to the latest PBS data.
The imports during the period under review also increased by 13.57 percent by growing from $34.791 billion last year to $39.512 billion during the first three quarters of current fiscal year.
Based on the figures, the country’s trade deficit increased by 20.05 percent during the first three quarters as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The trade deficit during the period was recorded at $20.827 billion against the deficit of $17.348 billion last year, according to the PBS data.
