Pakistan’s trade deficit widens by 26% in May

Pakistan’s trade deficit widened by 26.16% in May to $2.619 billion compared to $2.076 million in the same month last year, according to data released Wednesday by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

Exports rose to $2.55 billion in May, down 10.07% from $2.84 billion in the same month last year. Imports also increased 5.23% to $5.17 billion from $4.9 billion last year.

Sequentially, country’s trade gap shrank by 23.47% in May compared to the previous month, reaching $2.619 billion. The improvement was driven by higher exports and lower imports on a month-on-month basis.

Exports rose to $2.55 billion in May, up 17.43% from $2.17 billion in April. Imports fell 7.58% to $5.17 billion from $5.59 billion the previous month.

For the first 11 months of the current fiscal year, the trade gap expanded by 10.63%, reaching $24 billion, up from $21.69 billion in the same period last year. Exports between July and May totaled $29.44 billion, a 4.72% increase, while imports climbed 7.3% to $53.45 billion.