By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Exports fell in March year-on-year for the sixth month in a row, hit by a cooling global economy and a persistent slump in industrial activities in the country, data showed on Monday.
Pakistan exported goods worth $2.367 billion in March, down 14.76 percent from a year earlier, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data showed.
The country’s monthly trade deficit narrowed by 59.75 percent to $1.46 billion in March from a year ago. Exports in the July-March period shrank by 9.87 percent to $21.05 billion from $23.35 billion in the corresponding month a year ago.
Likewise, imports also fell by 25.34 percent to $43.95 billion from $58.86 billion recorded in July-March 2021-22.
In March 2023, exports were down 14.76 percent to $2.367 billion from $2.78 billion in the same month a year ago, while imports dropped 40.25 percent to $3.83 billion from $6.41 billion in March 2022.
During the last six months, exports declined sharply. In October 2022, exports were down 3.25 percent year-on-year, in November by 17.6 percent, in December 16.3 percent, in January 15.4 percent, February 18.67 percent, and in March exports declined by 14.76 percent over the corresponding month of last year.
In July-March 2022-23, the trade deficit shrank 35.5 percent to $22.9 billion compared to $35.51 billion in the same period last fiscal. Comparing monthly trade with the previous month (February), goods exports in March 2023 were up by 8.03 percent from $2.19 billion in the previous month, while imports were down 5.1 percent from February’s imports of $4.03 billion.
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