The latest statistics released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics have shown that the exports of the country increased by almost 54 percent in the first two months of the fiscal year 2022 in comparison to what it was in the same months a year ago.
The value of exports reached $1.008 billion in July-August 2021 from $799.94m over the corresponding months of the last financial year.
Services exports posted a growth of 53.64pc in August to $531.29m against $345.81m over the corresponding month of last year. On a month-on-month basis, exports increased by 11.38pc.
The export of services went up by 9.19pc year-on-year to $5.937bn in FY21 compared to $5.437bn during the same period last year.
The growth in the export of services is mainly led by the highest-ever export of IT services. Services exports also include finance and insurance, transport and storage, wholesale and retail trade, public administration, and defense sectors.
The commerce ministry has fixed a target of $7.5bn for services exports in the year 2021-22.
The services sector has emerged as the main booster to the economic growth as it contributes a lion’s share to the GDP, increased from 56% in 2005-06 to nearly 61% in 2020-21.
Services import increased
On the other hand, services imports increased by 31.42pc to $1.627bn in July and August against $1.238bn over the corresponding months of last year.
In August, the imports of services went up by 88.89%. The imports amounted to $885.98m against $469.05m over the corresponding month of last year. On a monthly basis, the imports of services grew by 19.55pc.
The trade deficit has increased by 41.24pc as it was recorded at $618.76m in July and August FY21 against $438.10m over the corresponding months of last year.
Earlier in August, the trade deficit in services went up by 187.8pc as it surged to $354.69m in August FY21 from $123.24m over the corresponding month of last year. The trade deficit declined by 43.45pc to $1.875bn in July-June FY21 against $3.315bn over the corresponding months last year.
In the budget 2021-22, the government has announced several measures to promote the export of services, especially information technology. The incentives offered to exporters are related to tariff and non-tariff services.
