By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s exports of goods rose for the first time in almost a year in September, reversing a prolonged slump caused by a struggling economy, official data showed on Monday.
The country’s exports increased by 1.15 percent to $2.465 billion in September from a year ago, compared with $2.437 billion in the same month last year, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The growth was modest but significant, as it followed 11 consecutive months of year-on-year declines ranging from 3.25 percent to 26.2 percent.
The turnaround was also evident on a monthly basis, as exports grew by 4.2 percent over August’s exports of $2.366 billion, the PBS said.
The shift was seen last month in August, when the pace of decline slowed to single digits from earlier sharp declines seen since October last year.
The increase in exports came amid a challenging economic situation for Pakistan, which has been facing a balance-of-payments crisis, high inflation, low growth and rising debt. The country has been under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) program since July 2019, which has imposed tough fiscal and monetary measures to stabilize the economy.
Pakistan’s imports fell sharply by 25.3 percent to $3.95 billion in September from a year ago, mainly due to lower oil prices, reduced demand for machinery and raw materials, and tight import controls by the government to curb the trade deficit.
On a monthly basis, imports dropped by 12.7 percent from $4.5 billion in August.
As a result, the trade deficit narrowed by 47.9 percent to $1.49 billion in September from $2.86 billion in September 2022. In August, the deficit was $2.16 billion.
In the first quarter of the current fiscal year (July-September 2023-24), exports fell by 3.8 percent to $6.9 billion, while imports declined by 25.4 percent to $12.2 billion, compared with the same period of the previous fiscal year. The trade deficit shrank by 42.15 percent to $5.29 billion in the first quarter of FY24 from $9.16 billion in the first quarter of FY23.
In FY23, Pakistan’s trade deficit fell by 43 percent to $27.55 billion from $48.35 billion in FY22, as total exports dipped by 12.7 percent to $27.7 billion and imports contracted by 31 percent to $55.3 billion.
The data also showed that trade deficit in services widened by 174 percent to $463 million in July-August 2023-24 from $169 million in July-August 2022-23 due to higher demand for foreign services as the economy reopened.
From July to August 2023-24, Pakistan spent $1.6 billion on the services it hired from abroad and offered its services of $1.14 billion. Similarly, in the same period last year, exports were $1.1 billion and imports of $1.28 billion. During these two months, exports increased 2 percent while imports up by 24.7 percent.
In August, services exports were valued at $600 million, while imports amounted to $789 million, resulting in a deficit of $189 million. In July, exports were at $535 million, imports at $809 million, and the deficit at $274 million.
During the month under review, services exports increased by 12.14 percent, and imports decreased by 2.45 percent compared to the previous month. Comparing August’s services trade performance to the same month of the previous year, exports were up by 2.34 percent, and imports also increased by 9.1 percent.
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