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ISLAMABAD: The federal finance minister Miftah Ismail has revealed that the country’s trade deficit in August shrank by 27% from the same period in 2021, pointing out government’s decision to curb imports is bearing fruits.
Taking to twitter, the finance minister said, “The trade deficit stood at $3.2 billion in August,” adding that as per the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), imports in August were $5.7 billion, which were down by 13% from the same period last year.
Per FBR imports in Aug were $5.7b ⬇️ 13% from last year. Energy imports were $2b (up 5%) & non-energy imports were $3.6b (⬇️ 21%). Exports were 2.5b up 13%. Trade deficit was $3.2b ⬇️ 27%. Remittance were $2.7b up 2%. Exports + remittance still shy of imports. But we’ll get there
— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) September 1, 2022
The exports were $2.5 billion, up by 13%, the trade deficit was $3.2 billion, down by 27%, and remittances were up 2% to $2.7 billion, the finance minister shared.
The minister admitted there are still work to be done but hoped the country would get there.
However, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) are yet to post their August data.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s merchandise exports jumped 11.6 percent year-on-year in August against a negative growth in the preceding month, provisional data of Pakistan’s Customs showed on Thursday.
In July, the first month of the current fiscal year, the export proceeds shrank 5.17 percent. However, the export proceeds revived to $2.5 billion in August against $2.24 billion in the corresponding month of last year.
On a month-on-month basis, the export proceeds increased by 11 percent. Last time, the exports posted a negative growth of 14.75 percent in August 2020.
In July-August, the total export proceeds stood at $4.75 billion against $4.58 billion in the corresponding period last year, indicating a growth of 3.71 percent.
