ISLAMABAD, Mar 2 (APP):The services trade deficit narrowed by 88.97 per cent as exports witnessed a growth of 6.39 per cent during the first seven months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.
According to PBS data, the exports from the country during July-January (2022-23) were recorded at $4,196.76 million against the exports of $3,944.84 million in July-January (2021-22), showing growth of 6.39 per cent.
On the other hand, the services’ imports declined by 32.67 per cent from US$6,681.39 million last year to US$4,498.50 million during the period under review.
Based on the figures, the services trade deficit was recorded at US $301.74 million this year against a deficit of US $2,736.56 million during the last fiscal year, showing a decline of 32.67 per cent.
On a year-on-year basis, the services exports during the month of January 2023 went up by 17.31 per cent to US$601.87 million against the exports of US $513.07 million during January 2022.
On the other hand, the imports decreased by 47.38 per cent from US$1,110.04 million last January to US$584.10 million in January 2023, according to the data.
On a month-on-month basis, the services exports from the country decreased by 18.12 per cent as compared to the exports of US$735.10 million in December 2022. The imports also went down by 10.05 per cent as compared to the imports of US $649.38 million in December 2022, the data revealed.
It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s merchandize trade deficit witnessed a decline of 33.18 percent during the first eight months the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
The trade deficit during July-February (2022-23) was recorded at $21.300 billion against the deficit of $31.879 billion in July- February (2021-22), a decline of 33.18 percent.
The exports during the period were recorded at $18.793 billion against $20.573 billion last year, showing a decline of 8.65 percent. On the other hand, the imports witnessed a sharp decline of 23.56 percent falling from $52.452 billion last year to $40.093 billion during the current fiscal year.
