Trade deficit widens by 11.9% for July-October

Exports grow by 19 per cent, imports by 16 per cent.

ISLAMABAD: The country’s trade deficit widened by 11.9 per cent year-on-year during July through October, as both imports and exports witnessed double-digit growth, says the Federal Bureau of Statistics.

The Federal Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday that the trade deficit, the gap between exports and imports, increased to $5.1 billion during the July-October period. During the corresponding period last year, the gap was $4.5 billion.

Exports stood at $7.2 billion, which were $1.2 billion or 19.2 per cent more than the exports in the same period last year. Imports increased to $12.3 billion, a surge of 16 per cent compared to the same four months of last year.

The trade deficit for October narrowed by 11.7 per cent as compared to the same month of last year due to a healthy growth in exports. The deficit for October stood at $1.3 billion.

Last month, Pakistan exported goods worth approximately $2 billion, which was 26.1 per cent more than the exports of October 2009. Imports for October stood at $3.3 billion, which was 8.4 per cent more than imports in October 2009.

The government has been unable to announce a trade policy for financial year 2010-11 despite a passage of four months of the new year. As a result, there are no import and export targets. However, unofficial estimates show that exports may remain above $21 billion and imports may hover around $39 billion by the end of June 2011.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2010.