August 26, 2021 (MLN): Pakistan's merchandise trade deficit for the month of July 2021 clocked in at $3.26billion compared to a deficit of $1.67bn in the corresponding month last year, depicting a growth of 95% YoY.
The widening of the trade gap is mainly attributed to exponential growth in imports and comparatively slow growth in exports.
However, compared to the previous month’s deficit of $3.62bn, the trade deficit improved by 10%.
According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), exports decreased by 14.2% to $2.34bn compared to $2.73bn in June 2021. While on yearly basis, the exports exhibited a growth of 17% from $2bn in July 2020.
In terms of Rupees, exports from Pakistan during July 2021 amounted to Rs.373.4bn as against Rs. 426bn (provisional) in June 2021 and Rs333.6bn during July 2020, showing a decrease of 12.36% over June 2021 but an increase of 11.92% over July 2020.
Imports in July’21 plummeted by 11.8%, clocking in at 5.6bn compared to 6.35bn in previous month. While compared to the corresponding month year, the imports showed a significant increase of 52.45%from $3.67bn reported in July 2020.
In Rupee terms, Imports into Pakistan during July 2021 amounted to Rs893.9bn as against Rs991.9bn in June 2021 and Rs612.6bn during July 2020, indicating a decline of 9.88% over June 2021 but an increase of 45.91% over July 2020.
