A significant $30 billion gap has emerged between import figures recorded by Pakistan Single Window (PSW) and payments cleared by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) over the past five years, according to a recent report by The Express Tribune. This discrepancy in trade reporting has drawn the attention of domestic and international stakeholders, including International Monetary Fund (IMF), raising questions about the accuracy of the country’s import and financial data.
Between July 2020 and June 2025, PSW documented imports valued at $321 billion, whereas SBP cleared only $291 billion through formal banking channels. The $30 billion difference represents a substantial reporting gap that officials say requires immediate reconciliation. The newly surfaced figures also highlight a deeper issue in how trade data has been compiled and reported across different agencies.
Historically, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) relied on import data from Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited (PRAL) to compile monthly trade statistics. Over the same five-year period, PRAL’s numbers were $16.5 billion lower than PSW’s, illustrating inconsistencies in reporting sources and data management.
Officials have attributed part of the discrepancy to differences in accounting methods. SBP records typically exclude freight and insurance costs, focusing only on the cost of goods. However, the size of the gap indicates other underlying causes beyond simple accounting variances. Some experts believe the difference may also stem from payments made outside formal banking channels or through alternative financing mechanisms.
The IMF has formally asked the government to disclose the discrepancies and explain them publicly. During recent consultations, the Fund urged Pakistan to adopt a transparent communication strategy to restore market confidence and ensure consistency in reporting trade data. In meetings with IMF representatives, officials acknowledged that incomplete trade information had been submitted earlier to the International Trade Centre due to the transition from PRAL to PSW as the primary source of import data.
Investigations have revealed that PBS had been using outdated data queries since 2017, which contributed to significant underreporting. In FY2024–25 alone, PSW documented imports worth $64.1 billion compared to SBP’s $59.1 billion, resulting in a $5 billion gap. The difference was even larger in FY2023–24 at $6.7 billion. The most striking gap occurred in FY2021–22, when PSW reported $82.3 billion in imports, PRAL $80.2 billion, and SBP only $71.5 billion — a shortfall of $10.8 billion. Officials stressed that these figures cannot be explained solely by freight and insurance.
The growing gap has raised concerns among policymakers, regulators, and international partners. Analysts warn that such inconsistencies could impact Pakistan’s credibility in global financial markets and complicate negotiations with international lenders.
A high-level committee formed by Shehbaz Sharif is now reviewing the situation to identify the sources of the mismatch. The committee is tasked with reconciling the discrepancies, updating previous records, and submitting a revised dataset to the IMF. Government officials have also hinted at new data integration protocols to align reporting standards between PSW, SBP, PRAL, and PBS.
As Pakistan works to strengthen fiscal discipline and maintain transparency, resolving this $30 billion reporting gap will be a critical test of its institutional coordination and financial governance.
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