Pakistan’s exports at a record 4-year low

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s exports have plunged to a four-year low of $23.9 billion in the recently ended financial year – missing the target by $3.1 billion and tattering the much-trumpeted ‘Vision 2025’ that promises six times increase in exports in the next 10 years.

The country exported goods worth $23.9 billion during the last financial year 2014-15, which were $1.3 billion or 4.9% less than the previous fiscal year, reported the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Thursday.

It was a poorer performance compared to Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) last year in office, which is generally considered as a bad year in terms of economic policies and governance. In the last year of the PPP government, the exports had increased to $24.5 billon.

It was also the lowest number since 2011-12 when the country had exported goods worth $23.6 billion.

The country’s exports are falling at a time when its regional peers are increasing their shares in global trade. Pakistan’s exports amount to only 0.15% of the global receipts from exports.

While the exports dropped by almost 5%, the imports in the same period grew on an average of 2.1% to $46 billion, widening the trade deficit by 10.7%.