KARACHI: Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, President FPCCI, has said that curtailing trade deficit in the fiscal year 2022 – 23 would be the biggest economic challenge for the government; without which the country will remain under a constant threat of default and its foreign exchange reserves (FER) will not buildup to a secure level. FPCCI Chief has noted with profound concerns that the trade deficit for the fiscal year 2021 – 22 has clocked at a record $48.66 billion as per the revised figures and that translates into more than $4 billion a month on an average; while it was $30.96 billion in the previous year, i.e. 2020 – 21 and this shows a huge increase of 57 percent. No country in the world with the size of the economy like Pakistan can sustain or afford that kind of trade imbalance without further slipping into the vicious cycle of trade deficit, exchange rate volatility and current account deficit (CAD). DNA
