July 19, 2021 (MLN): Pakistan’s trade deficit in services stood at $1.88 billion during the fiscal year 2020-21, signifying a decline of 43.5% as compared to a deficit of $3.32bn recorded in the same period last fiscal year.
According to the figures published by the State Bank of Pakistan, on a sequential basis, the country’s trade deficit in services widened by 2.5x MoM to $273 million. However, on yearly basis, it posted a nominal increase of 2.2% YoY.
Details made available by SBP revealed that the exports of services during FY21 amounted to $5.94bn, i.e., up by 9.2% YoY. Amongst the total exports, Telecommunications, Computer and Information Services made the largest contribution with an amount of $2.12, showing an improvement of 47.4% YoY in FY21.
This is followed by Other Business Services that brought $1.42bn into the country. Receipts from the exports of said services swelled by 7% YoY during the fiscal year 2020-21. Moreover, the export of Transport contributed an amount of $567mn, down by 23.5% YoY while the country earned $500mn from Travel Services, marking a meagre growth of 2% YoY during July-June FY2021.
Furthermore, the export of Government Goods and Services brought in an amount of $1.04bn into the country.
On the other hand, the imports of services during FY21 amounted to $7.81bn, showing a decline of 10.8% YoY as opposed to $8.75bn reported in FY20.
Amongst the total imports, the largest expenditure was incurred on Transport services for an amount of $2.95bn i.e., down by 2.9% YoY when compared to the previous fiscal year. This was followed by Other Business Services which cost the country around $2.40bn i.e., lower by 6.3% YoY in July-June FY2021
