Trade deficit widens 85% YoY to $4.8bn in December: PBS

News Image

MG News | January 05, 2022 at 06:58 PM GMT+05:00

January 5, 2022 (MLN): Pakistan's merchandise trade deficit for the month of December 2021 clocked in at $4.8billion compared to a deficit of $2.62bn in the corresponding month last year, depicting a growth of 85% YoY, latest data issued by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics showed today.

Compared to the last month, the trade deficit improved by 2.8% from $4.99bn, as imports dipped by $302mn or 3.8% MoM to $7.59bn.

However, Razak Dawood, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment, tweeted over the weekend that Pakistan’s trade deficit during the month of December declined by 17% MoM to $4.14bn compared to $5.02bn in the previous month as imports weakened by $1bn MoM to $6.9 billion.

While comparing imports from the last month, the minister did not compare imports from last year as PBS data shows that December imports soared by 52% YoY from $4.98bn in December 2020.

In addition, citing ministry data, the adviser revealed that exports increased by 16.7% YoY to $2.761bn as compared to $2.366 in Dec 2020. Whereas, PBS data shows that exports inclined by 15.8% YoY to $2.74bn.

However, on a monthly basis, exports dipped by 5.5% from $2.9bn last month.

Going by the PBS data, during Jul-Dec FY22 Pakistan’s trade deficit was $25.48bn compared to a deficit of $12.34bn in the corresponding period of FY21.

Overall, the 6-month exports stood at $15.1bn compared to $12.1bn in 6MFY21, showing a jump of 24.7% YoY. The export target for the first half of this FY was $15bn. Similarly, imports during the period increased by 66% to $40.6bn compared to $24.4bn in the same period of FY21.

Sharing the commodity-wise trade details yesterday, adviser said, exports of Men's Garments, Home Textiles, Rice, Cotton Fabric, Cotton Yarn, Women's Garments, Jersey & Cardigans, T-Shirts, Fish & fish, Plastic and Cement products witnessed an increase during December 2021 compared to December 2020. Whereas, exports of Fruit & Vegetables, and Surgical Instruments decline during the month.

In terms of geographical spread, the exports to the US, China, Netherlands, Spain, Bangladesh, Thailand, Srilanka, Malaysia & Kazakhstan increased in December 2021, while those to UK, Germany, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Russia Federation decreased, he added.

Copyright Mettis Link News

Related News

Name Price/Vol %Chg/NChg
KSE100 177,692.92
292.03M
-0.44%
-778.95
ALLSHR 107,527.40
755.35M
-0.21%
-222.76
KSE30 53,022.89
136.49M
-0.33%
-177.32
KMI30 254,789.27
135.36M
-0.08%
-207.69
KMIALLSHR 69,937.14
438.67M
-0.02%
-16.42
BKTi 47,966.64
21.05M
-1.22%
-591.93
OGTi 36,833.67
15.21M
0.60%
217.97
Symbol Bid/Ask High/Low
Name Last High/Low Chg/%Chg
BITCOIN FUTURES 62,920.00 63,045.00
62,425.00
555.00
0.89%
BRENT CRUDE 76.50 76.91
76.20
-0.58
-0.75%
RICHARDS BAY COAL MONTHLY 115.00 0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00%
ROTTERDAM COAL MONTHLY 125.90 125.90
125.90
-0.15
-0.12%
USD RBD PALM OLEIN 1,157.50 1,157.50
1,157.50
0.00
0.00%
CRUDE OIL - WTI 72.66 73.18
72.34
-0.55
-0.75%
SUGAR #11 WORLD 13.93 14.03
13.75
0.09
0.65%

Chart of the Day


Latest News
June 23, 2026 at 08:01 PM GMT+05:00

SBP raises Rs1.2tr in MTB Auction


June 23, 2026 at 06:00 PM GMT+05:00

Money supply approaches Rs49tr in May


June 23, 2026 at 06:00 PM GMT+05:00

SpaceX loses $600bn in three-day rout



Top 5 things to watch in this week

Pakistan Stock Movers
Name Last Chg/%Chg
Name Last Chg/%Chg