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

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.

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