Pakistan’s trade deficit has significantly shrunk by 10 per cent during eight months (July-February) of the ongoing financial year 2012-13 period on the back of a continuous fall in imports and growth in exports during the period under review.

According to the latest figures released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Tuesday, the trade deficit shrank to $13.185 billion in the period from July 2012 to February 2013 as compare to $14.660 billion of the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal year.

Goods worth $15.884 billion were exported in July-February period of ongoing financial year (2012-13) as compared to $15.128 billion of the corresponding period last year. On the other hand, imports plunged by 2.41 per cent to $29.069 billion in July-February period of ongoing financial year as compared to $29.788 billion of the corresponding period last year. Thus, the trade deficit recorded at $13.185 billion in the period from July 2012 to February 2013 as compare to $14.660 billion of the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal year.

The narrowing of the trade deficit by $1.5 billion is offsetting pressure on the country’s foreign currency reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan. This relief, however, may prove temporary as the country is set to return over $1 billion in loan repayments to the IMF in the remaining period of the current fiscal year, which experts believe will bring foreign exchange reserves under considerable pressure.

Meanwhile, according to the PBS figures, the overall exports growth gone down by 9.29 per cent in February 2013 if compared with exports of January 2013. The country exported goods worth of $1.835 billion in February 2013 against $2.023 billion of January 2013. However, the imports also showed negative growth of 10.10 per cent in February 2013 against January 2013, as the country imported goods worth of $3.383 billion during the last month as compared to $3.763 billion of January 2013. Therefore, the country’s trade imbalance decreased by 11.03 per cent in February 2013 against that of January 2013. The country’s trade deficit was recoded at $1.548 billion in February 2013 against $1.740 billion of the January 2013.

According to the PBS figures, exports stood at $1.835 billion in February 2013, which were $2.010 billion in February 2012 and this showed a decrease of 8.71 per cent in exports in one year. Imports decreased by 2.28 per cent and were recorded at $3.383 billion in February 2013 against $3.462 billion of February 2012. The trade deficit for February 2013 against February 2012 increased by 6.61 per cent and was recorded at $1.548 billion.