In yet another positive development after record growth in remittances, the country’s trade deficit decreased by 12.05 percent during the first seven months of the current fiscal year as exports expanded by 7.24 percent and imports witnessed negative growth of 2.44 percent. The overall exports from the country increased from $13.118 billion in July December 2011-12 to US$14.068 billion during July-December (2012-13), according to the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) released here Wednesday. On the other hand, the imports decreased from $26.327 billion last year to $25.685 billion during the current fiscal year, showing negative growth of 2.44 percent, the data revealed. According to the data, the trade deficit during the fist seven months of current fiscal stood at $11.617 billion against the deficit of $13.209 billion last year, showing negative growth of 12.05 percent. Meanwhile, exports during the month of January 2013 witnessed growth of 5.58 percent when compared to the same month of last year. On year-on-year basis, the exports during January 2013 were recorded at $2.023 billion against the exports of $1.916 billion during January 2012 2011. On the other hand, the imports into the country also witnessed increase of 3.12 percent to $3.763 billion in January 2013 against the imports of $3.649 billion during January 2012. The trade deficit during January stood at $1.740 billion against the deficit of $1.733 billion during January 2012, showing slight growth of 0.40 percent. On month on month basis, the exports as well as imports increased by 2.74 percent and 1.48 percent respectively in January 2013 as compared to December 2012 2011.
