Pakistan recorded export growth at 17.5% touching $2.471 billion in October 2021 in comparison to $2.104 billion in the corresponding month last year.
Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood took to Twitter on Monday and wrote, “This is the highest-ever export number in any October in our history.”
Dawood also pointed out that foreign shipments fell short of the target of $2.6 billion for October 2021.
He said that the country’s exports increased by 25% to $9.468 billion during the time period between July to October 2021 against the $7.576 billion in the same period last year.
The PM aide said that Pakistan had set a target to ship merchandise worth $9.6 billion abroad during the four-month period.
Talking about import figures, he announced that they increased by 64% to $24.99 billion in July-October 2021 against the $15.19 billion during the same period last year.
As per the advisor, around 40% of this growth was driven by investment in raw material, capital goods, and intermediate goods, which reflected enhanced activity in the industrial sector.
The remaining 60% of imports consist of coal, petroleum products, gas (34%), vaccines (11%), and food (8%).
He said, “Most of this is inelastic in nature. In absolute terms, the net increase in imports over this period is $9.801 billion.”
Consumer goods contributed to $239 million while food items amounted to $823 million and capital goods made up $1.6 billion of the total.
Head of Research at Topline Securities Atif Zafar said that the robust export figure for October 2021 would contribute to relaxing concerns over the balance of payments, but there is still a need for further improvement.
He added, “Trade deficit in the month under review is estimated at about $3.77 billion. Some improvement was seen over last month as imports declined 5% compared to September 2021.”
Zafar stressed that the government should mention the quantity and value of vaccines imported on a monthly basis as the imports of vaccines were funded by international agencies, which contributed to misleading deficit figures.
Head of Research at Arif Habib Limited Tahir Abbas said that the trade deficit shrank 10.5% on a month-on-month basis, reflecting betterment on the external front.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the government have taken steps to curtail the inward shipments of luxury and non-essential goods are projected to start reflecting in the import figures soon, narrowing down the trade deficit.
President of the Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) Zulfikar Thaver said that despite the upbeat trade data, inflation was still rising owing to hoarders and profiteers, who created an artificial shortage of commodities.
Thaver said, “Inflation is also caused by a surge in the cost of production and expensive logistics. At one point, we were talking about a strategic export policy to steer export surplus.”
Talking about imports, he said that Pakistan started ordering wheat from abroad in order to meet domestic demand.
He noted that the country has imported medicines that were either not manufactured domestically or produced in a smaller quantity in comparison to demand.
The government is focusing on growing exports. The second Pakistan-Africa Trade Development Conference is scheduled to be held later this month in Nigeria. The conference will discuss the geographical diversification of Pakistan’s exports. A single-country exhibition will also be held at the same time.
To date, 113 Pakistani companies from the textile, leather, cosmetics, food, tractor manufacturing, pharmaceutical, electrical appliances sectors are confirmed to participate in the event.
Dawood will head Pakistan’s delegation with firms exhibiting their products in the single-country exhibition as well as hold business-to-business meetings.
