The trade deficit of Pakistan in services declined by 83.30% during the first six months of the current fiscal compared to the corresponding period of the previous financial year, WealthPK reports. According to the Ministry of Commerce, the trade deficit of the country in services dropped to $357 million during the first half of the ongoing financial year from $2.139 billion during the same period of the previous year. The export of services from Pakistan reached $3.526 billion during the first six months of the current fiscal $3.432 billion in the same period of the previous financial year, showing an increase of 2.73%. On the other hand, the import of services declined by 30.29% and dipped to $3.883 billion from $5.571 billion in the first six months of the last fiscal.

Information technology, business, transport, government goods and travel sectors remained major contributors to the export of services by Pakistan during the first half of the current year. According to data, the volume of export of IT services reached $1.333 billion from $1.302 billion in the first six months of the previous fiscal, showing an increase of 2.38%. The export of business services was recorded at $816 million during the first half of the ongoing year against $791 million in the same period of last year, showing a growth of 3.16%.

With an increase of 9.46%, the export of government goods and services reached $578 million during the first six months of the current year against $528 million in the corresponding period of last year. The exports of transport services rose to $430 million from $376 million, registering an increase of 12.55%. The export of travel sector services fetched $255 million to the country during the period under review compared to $282 million during the same months of the previous fiscal. In December 2022, the export of services declined by 3.19% and its volume dipped to $667 million from $689 million during the same month of last year.

The export of services in IT, business, government goods, transport and travel sectors was recorded at $700 million, $425 million, $333 million, $212 million and $132 million, respectively, during December 2022. The import of services was recorded at $619 million in December 2022 compared to $1.115 billion in December 2021, showing a negative growth of 44.48%. Pakistan’s trade surplus in services was recorded at $48 million in December 2022, compared to a trade deficit of $574 million during the same month of the previous fiscal.

According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the country’s total services exports were recorded at $6.957 billion during the last fiscal, up by 17% from $5.945 billion in the preceding financial year. The import of services was recorded at $12.087 billion during the last fiscal year. The Ministry of Commerce has projected services export of $7.937 billion in the current fiscal while the import of services is estimated to be around $14 billion, according to the information gathered by WealthPK.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk