The trade deficit witnessed a decline of 35.5 percent during the first nine months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported. The trade deficit during July-March (2022-23) was recorded at $22.9 billion against the deficit of $35.5 billion in JulyMarch (2021-22), a decline of 35.5 percent.The exports during the period were recorded at $21.0 billion against $23.4 billion last year, showing a decline of 9.9 percent. On the other hand, the imports witnessed a sharp decline of 25.3 percent falling from $58.9 billion last year to $43.9 billion during the current fiscal year. On a year-onyear basis, the exports from the country witnessed a decline of 14.7 percent and were recorded at $2.4 billion in March 2023 against the exports of $2.777 billion in March 2022. The imports also decreased to $3.8 billion from $6.4 billion in March 2022, showing negative growth of 40.3 percent. On a month-on-month basis, the exports during March 2023 however increased by 8 percent when compared to the exports of $2.2 billion in February 2023. The imports into the country declined by 5.1 percent in March 2023 as compared to the imports of $4.0 billion in February 2023, according to the data.
Source: IBP