Trade deficit shrinks to $9.2bn in first quarter of FY23

• Govt’s efforts to control imports pay off.
• Exports edged up 1.8% to $7.1 billion against $6.9 billion in same period last year.
• Imports have been decreasing since start of this fiscal year.

The government’s efforts to control imports paid off as Pakistan’s trade deficit shrank to 21.4% to $9.2 billion in the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal against $11.72 billion in the same three months of the last fiscal, said a report published in The News.

Imports in the first quarter shrank 12.7% to $16.3 billion from $18.72 billion in the same period last year; however, exports edged up 1.8% to $7.125 billion against $6.996 billion in the same period last year.

In September 2022 trade deficit reduced 30.6% to $2.88 billion from $4.15 billion in the same month last year.

Comparing monthly trade performance with August, goods exports in September 2022 fell 3.8% from $2.48 billion, while imports slumped 13.2% compared to imports of $6.07 billion.

In July 2022 the exports were down 3.6%, in August up 10.5%, and now in September, they are again down 0.9%.

But the encouraging sign is that the imports have been decreasing since the start of this fiscal year as July imports contracted by 10.4%, in August 7.7%, while in September they decreased by 19.7% compared to the same months of the last fiscal, the statistical office’s trade bulletin revealed.

This downtrend reduced the trade deficit in the first quarter of FY2023 (from July through August 2022) by 21.4% to $9.2 billion against the $11.72 billion last year.

Imports in the first quarter shrank 12.7% to $16.3 billion from $18.72 billion in the same period last year; however, exports edged up 1.8% to $7.125 billion against $6.996 billion in the same period last year.

Last fiscal, the economy racked up a historic high trade deficit of $48.38 billion, recording over a 31% increase over the previous year.