Trade gap widens, exports up in October 2016

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ISLAMABAD: The trade deficit during the first four months of the current fiscal year witnessed positive growth of 21.99 percent as compared to the deficit of the corresponding period of last year.

According to the latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the overall trade deficit during July-October (2016-17) was recorded at $9.319 billion compared to the deficit of $7.639 billion in July-October (2015-16).

The imports into the country during the period under review increased by 8.60 percent by going up from $14.504 billion last year to $15.751 billion during the current fiscal year.

The exports from the country during this period shrunk by 6.31 percent by falling from $6.865 billion last year to $6.432 billion this year, the PBS data revealed.

On year-on-year basis, the exports from the country increased by 1.97 percent in October 2016 compared to the same month of last year.

The exports in October 2016 were recorded at $1.756 billion compared to the exports of $1.722 billion in October 2015.

On the other hand, the imports into the country also grew by 3.39 percent by going up from $3.894 billion in October 2015 to $4.026 billion in October 2016.

On month-on-month basis, the exports from the country grew by 13.80 percent in October 2016 when compared to the export of $1.543 billion during September 2016.

Similarly, the imports into the country also went up by 4.35 percent compared to the imports of $3.858 billion in September 2016.