January 20, 2020 (MLN): Pakistan’s trade deficit in services stood at $1.79 billion during the first six months of Financial Year 2020, signifying a fall of 17.5%, as compared to the same period of last year.
Likewise, the deficit during the quarter Oct-Dec was recorded at $666 million, which is around 41% lower than the previous quarter.
According to the latest figures published by the State Bank of Pakistan, the services trade deficit during December 2019 stood at $239 million against $259 million in November 2019, suggesting a drop of 7.7%.
The exports of services during the month of December amounted to $527 million, which brought the cumulative exports for the first half of current Fiscal Year at $2.73 billion. Amongst the total exports, Telecommunications, Computer and Information Services made the largest contribution with an amount of $653 million, followed by Government Goods and Services at $599 million.
On the contrary, the imports of services during the month amounted to $766 million, which brought the cumulative imports for the six months at $4.53 billion. Amongst the total imports, the largest expenditure was incurred on Transport group for an amount of $1.67 billion, followed by the Travel Group at $775 million.