In the fiscal year 2019-20, Pakistan’s trade deficit shrank from $31.8 billion in 2018-19 to $23.18 billion, showing a 27% fall in the trade balance.
As per the official data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), in the last fiscal year ending June 30, 2020, exports fetched $21,387 billion against the desired $24 billion objectives.
In the previous fiscal year 2018-19, the exports stood at $22.958 billion. Exports in the fiscal year 2019-20 fell by 6.8 percent compared to 2018-19. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the exports were estimated to decline in the last fiscal year by $4 to $5 billion.
In the last fiscal year 2019-20, the imports stood at $44 billion compared to $54.7 billion, a decrease of 18.6 percent. The import bill was compressed in the last quarter of the fiscal year 2019-20 due to tariff and non-tariff barriers as well as the reduced oil prices.
In the fiscal year 2019-20, the total trade balance plummeted to $23,183 billion compared to $31,805 billion, showing a decrease of 27.11%.
Exports in June 2020 stood at $1,592 billion compared to $1,703 billion in the same month of the last year 2019, showing a decrease of 6.52 percent. In June 2020, the imports stood at $3,715 billion compared to $4,353 billion, a decrease of 14.66 %.
The June 2020 trade deficit stood at $2,123 billion, down from $2,650 billion, showing a 19.89 percent decline. In June 2020, exports fetched $1,592 billion from $1,396 billion in May 2020, meaning exports increased by 14.04 percent in June 2020.
Imports stood at $3,715 billion in June 2020 compared to $2,863 billion in May 2020, thereby rising imports by 29.7 percent. In June 2020, the total trade balance remained negative at $2.123 billion compared to negative $1.467 billion, up 44.7 percent.
