APBF expresses concern over soaring trade deficit

LAHORE: The All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF) has expressed concern over the alarming rise in the trade deficit, which widened to almost $30 billion during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year.

Only a recovery in exports would ease pressure on the external sector, said APBF President Ibrahim Qureshi, who said that policy intervention has started yielding positive results but a lot more still needed to be done.



The Pakistani rupee has weakened around 10% against the dollar since December last year. This has given exporters an opportunity to improve their global competitiveness. The government also imposed regulatory duties on hundreds of non-essential imports late last year. The APBF president expected the current account deficit to reach $17 billion in the outgoing fiscal year, advising the government to take measures to avoid depletion of foreign currency reserves.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2018.

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