Pakistan's trade deficit shrinks to 11-month-low

Pakistan’s trade deficit shrank to $3.6 billion during the first two months of this fiscal year, according to the data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Tuesday.

The decline showed an 11-month-low since September 2023.

Trade deficit decreased by 21% YoY to USD 1.7bn during Aug’24

During Aug’24, exports stood at USD 2.7bn (+16% YoY | +19% MoM). Imports during the month remained at USD 4.4bn (-1% YoY | +5% MoM). During 2MFY25, trade deficit also decreased by 4% YoY to USD 3.6bn.@PBSofficialpak… pic.twitter.com/HePCXxkCr0

— Arif Habib Limited (@ArifHabibLtd) September 3, 2024

The data showed the country balanced the gap between exports and imports, which led the trade deficit to a decline of $3.58 from July 1 to August 31. It is $160 million less than the the same month of the previous year.

The country recorded an increase in exports by 16 percent to $5.05 billion during 2MFY25, showing an up of $620 million from $4.43 billion in the same period of the corresponding year.

On the other hand, despite the curbing import policy imposed by the government, imports surged by 5.67 percent to $8.63 billion in the two months, which was $8.17 billion in last year.

However, the trade deficit significantly declined by 20.54 percent to $1.68 billion year-on-year in August, which was $2.11 billion in the same period in FY24.

In August 2024, exports increased by 15.93 percent to $2.74 billion from $2.37 billion in the same month of the previous year.

Meanwhile, a notable decline of 12.03 percent to $1.6 billion was recorded month-on-month compared to $1.9 billion in July 2024.