Balance of Trade improves by 9.16 percent in September 2018

October 10, 2018 (MLN): Pakistan’s trade deficit for the third month of current fiscal year, i.e. September 2018 has shrunk by $272 million over the previous month as it stand in at $2.7 billion while the deficit in August 2018 was recorded at $2.97 billion.

According to official data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), balance of trade over the year has improved by 2.43%, as September 2017 recorded a deficit of $2.77 billion.

When measured in Pakistani rupees, the country’s balance of trade shows an improvement of 8.95% over the previous month, however on a year-on-year basis, it has worsened by almost 15%.

Pakistan exported $1.7 billion worth of goods in September 2018, against an export of $2 billion during the prior month and that of $1.67 billion during the corresponding period of previous year.

Imports for the month logged in at $4.4 billion, as compared to imports worth almost $5 billion during the preceding month. On a year-on-year basis, there has been no change in import figures.

Pakistan’s imports during the first quarter of current fiscal year amount to $14.3 billion, which when compared to the previous year’s imports, demonstrate no significant change. On the other hand, exports compared to the first quarter of FY-18 have jumped by 4.6% as they stand at $5.4 billion.

The cumulative deficit for the first three months of FY-19 has dropped by $218 million or 1.61%, as it logs in at $8.87 billion during the quarter while the cumulative deficit for the corresponding period of previous year was at $9 billion.

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