Pakistan's exports, imports decline in July

• Pakistan's exports shrink near a quarter in July.
• The country's imports plunge by 38.3%.
• Goods' exports in July stood at $2.219 billion.

ISLAMABAD: During the first month of fiscal year 2022-23, Pakistan's exports shrank near a quarter over the previous month and 5.2% over the corresponding month of the last fiscal year, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed Tuesday.

Similarly, according to The News, imports also plunged by 38.3% over the previous month and 12.8% over the same month a year ago.

The monthly trade bulletin showed that goods exports in July 2022 stood at $2.219 billion against $2.92 billion in June 2022 and $2.43 billion in July 2021.

The country’s goods imports in July 2022 were $4.86 billion. In June 2022, the economy’s imports were $7.88 billion and in July 2021, the monetary volume of imports was $5.575 billion.

The trade deficit reduced by 18.3% to $2.64 billion in July 2022 against $3.235 billion in July 2021. In June 2022, the gap was at $4.96 billion.

A sizable cut in imports came after the government banned a number of luxury items to manage the shortage of dollars in the economy.

The economy racked up a record-high trade deficit of $48.385 billion in the last fiscal year due to the sky-high oil imports bill. Imports during FY22 clocked in at $80.18 billion and exports $31.07 billion. During FY2020, the exports hit $25.3 billion, while imports came in at $56.38 billion, a deficit of $31.07 billion.

The PBS also reported the services trade performance data for July-June 2021-22. According to trade statistics for international services during July-June 2021/22, local companies imported more services than they exported.

The trade deficit in services ballooned 105.7% to $5.175 billion in FY22 from $2.516 billion in FY21.

The economy hired foreign companies’ services for $12.14 billion, while it sold services abroad for $6.97 billion. In the previous FY21, the country’s services exports (money inflow) stood at $5.945 billion and imports (outflow) were recorded at $8.46 billion. This represents an increase of 17.2% in services exports and 43.5% in imports.

In June 2022, services exports stood at $646 million and imports at $1.37 billion indicating a deficit of $727 million. In the previous month of May 2022, exports were recorded at $498 million and imports at $995 million with a deficit of $497 million.

During the month under review, exports went up by 29.7% and imports by 37.9% when compared to the previous month.

Comparing June 2022’s services trade performance with the same month of the last year, exports jumped 11.75% and imports also surged 57.6%.

In June 2021, services exports stood at $578 million and imports at $871 million, with a deficit of $293 million. Comparing the deficit of both months, it increased by 148% in June 2022 over the corresponding month of last year.