By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s exports tumbled for a fifth consecutive month in December, plunging more than a fifth from a year earlier and driving the trade deficit wider amid sluggish global demand and soaring domestic costs.
Merchandise shipments dropped 20.4% from a year ago to $2.32 billion, while imports edged up 2% to $6.02 billion, according to data released Friday by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. That pushed the monthly trade gap to $2.855 billion, a 23.8% increase from December 2024.
The shortfall for the first half of fiscal 2025-26, which runs from July to June, ballooned 34.6% to $19.2 billion. Imports over the period climbed 11.28% to $34.4 billion, outpacing an 8.7% slide in exports to $15.18 billion.
The persistent weakness highlights the strain on Pakistan’s economy, already grappling with high energy prices and a slowdown in key markets. Textile and apparel shipments, which account for more than half of the country’s exports, fell 9% in December to $1.36 billion. Food exports fared worse, slumping 35%.
Exporters have repeatedly flagged high operating costs as a major hurdle. Textile manufacturers say the government must cut electricity rates to 7 to 8 cents per unit to restore competitiveness. “The existing electricity rate of 12 cents per unit is not economically viable for the industry, and the LNG is also becoming very expensive for the textile industry to run its captive power plants,” an official at the the Ministry of Commerce said.
Still, textiles showed some resilience over the half-year, with shipments ticking up 1% to $9.19 billion. Agriculture and food exports, however, cratered 35% to $2.62 billion. On a monthly basis, December exports slipped 4.26% from November’s $2.42 billion, while imports jumped 13.49% from $5.31 billion.
Services trade offered a brighter spot. Exports in November rose 22.3% from a year earlier to $814.25 million, while imports increased 16.7% to $953.2 million, narrowing the monthly deficit 7.75% to $139 million. For July through November, services exports advanced 16.77% to $3.83 billion and imports rose 12.78% to $5.146 billion, widening the deficit 2.55% to $1.3 billion. That compares with a narrower services gap in the prior fiscal year, which shrank 15.8% to $2.62 billion on a 9.2% gain in exports to $8.4 billion and a 2% uptick in imports to $11 billion.
The broader trade woes come as Pakistan seeks to stabilize its finances under an International Monetary Fund program, with officials targeting export growth to ease pressure on foreign reserves. Yet subdued demand in Europe and the US, coupled with domestic challenges like energy shortages, continues to weigh on performance.
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