Pakistan’s trade deficit shrinks 25% to $17.03bn in 9MFY24

01 April 2024

Published in: Business Recorder

Pakistan’s trade deficit shrank 24.94% to $17.03 billion during July-March (9MFY24) due to a considerable reduction in imports and an increase in exports, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Monday.

The country’s trade balance, gap between exports and imports, was recorded at a deficit of $17.03 billion in July to March period of 2023-24 as compared to $22.69 billion in the same period of the previous year.

Imports reduced substantially while exports saw a notable increase, which reduced the trade deficit.

During 9MFY24, Pakistan’s exports increased by 8.93% to $22.914 billion from $21.036 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

On the other hand, imports declined by 8.65% to $39.944 billion in the July to March period, as compared to $43.724 billion in the same period of FY23.

Monthly figures

According to the PBS, the country’s trade deficit, however, increased massively by 56.3% to $2.171 billion in March 2024 from $1.389 billion in the same period of the last year.

Both exports and imports increased, however, the jump in imports was more pronounced.

Exports improved by 7.99% to $2.555 billion in March 2024 from $2.366 billion in the same month of the previous year. On the other hand, imports increased significantly by 25.86% to $4.726 billion in March 2024 from $3.755 billion in the same month last year.

Moreover, on a month-on-month basis, trade deficit increased by 24.56% as compared to $1.743 billion in February 2024.

The data showed exports decreased while imports posted a marginal improvement on a monthly basis.

Exports declined by 1.08% when compared monthly to $2.583 billion in the preceding month of February. Meanwhile, imports inched up by 9.25% to $4.726 billion from $4.326 billion last month.