Pakistan’s trade deficit has reached an all-time high of $4.05 billion in August 2021, as the imports grew twice as fast as the growth in exports. The increase comes down to 133.1 per cent year-on-year and 24.4 per cent month-on-month.
The provisional data showed that the imports rose from $1.740 billion in August 2020. The exports for August 2021 stand at $2.26 billion compared to $1.58 billion in August last year. The yearly percentage increase in exports is 42.5 while the exports dropped 3.5 per cent from $2.34 billion in July 2021.
As for the imports, an 89.9 per cent yearly increase was recorded, the highest ever size of $6.31 billion in August 2021 up from $3.32 billion in the same month last year. The imports bill also jumped on a month-on-month basis as the imports increased 12.7 per cent from $5.6 billion in July 2021.
This difference in exports and imports translated into a 133.1 per cent growth in trade deficit year-on-year, and a 24.4 per cent increase month-on-month.
In a tweet, Adviser to Prime Minister of Pakistan for Commerce and Investment Abdul Razzak Dawood said the “growth (in exports) was affected by shipments’ delays due to heavy rains.” Dawood said exports for August 2021 fell short by $143 of the proposed monthly target of $2.4 billion.
Experts say that the trend might push the current account to a whopping $10 billion for the ongoing fiscal year 2022. Several economists have called for Export Emergency, imposing tariffs on luxury imports, and adjusting the discount rate to rein in the import volume.
