The trade deficit of Pakistan shrank 33.18% during the first eight months (July-February) of the current fiscal year, i.e. FY23, to clock in at $21.3 billion compared to the $31.88 billion recorded in the same period last year.
According to the monthly statistics on trade by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), a massive cut was observed in imports in line with the steps taken by the incumbent government to ease the pressure on import bills during the first seven months of FY23.
Imports amounted to $40.093 billion during the period compared to the $52.452 billion that had been recorded during the same period last year.
Exports, however, also fell during the time to clock in at $18.793 billion from $20.573 billion recorded last year.
In February alone, the trade deficit shrank 43.56% on a year-on-year basis, as the trade imbalance amounted to $1.704 billion compared to the $3.019 billion that was recorded last year.
A similar trend was also observed on a month-on-month basis as the imbalance shrank by 35.23%.
It is pertinent to mention that the trade deficit of Pakistan recorded a whopping increase of 55.7% during the fiscal year 2022, taking the total imbalance between imports and exports to $48.38 billion.
However, the steps taken by the government to ban the import of unessential items have proven to be a remedy to decrease the pressure of trade imbalance.
