The number of 5G connections in China is expected to reach 892 million by the end of 2025, according to a recent analysis by GSMA, an international association of mobile operators. Strong 5G demand on the Chinese mainland has made it the single largest 5G market in the world, with 5G connections accounting for over 75 percent of the global total at the end of 2021. China is one of the leading markets for 5G and has been playing an important role in accelerating the digital transformation of industries,” said Sihan Bo Chen, head of Greater China for GSMA. By early March, China had around 1.43 million 5G base stations and over 500 million 5G users. The country will work to ensure the number of 5G base stations tops 2 million this year, official data showed.
This situation has cast positive impacts on Pakistani economy as Pakistan has earned US $315.030 million by providing different travel services in various countries during the first seven months of the current financial year 2021-22. This shows the growth of 13.67 percent as compared to the US $277.146 million same services were provided during the corresponding period of the last fiscal year 2020-21. During the month under review, the personal travel services increased by 13.71 percent, from the US $276.006 million last year to the US $313.840 million during July-January 2021-22. Among these personal services, the exports of health-related expenditure rose by 72.73 percent while the education-related expenditure increased by 0.15 percent. In addition, the other personal services witnessed an increase of 13.83 percent.
Meanwhile, the exports of business services also grew by 4.39 percent, from the US $ 1.140 million to the US $ 1.190 million. It is pertinent to mention here that the exports of services from the country witnessed an increase of 18.82 percent during the first seven months of current financial year (2021-22) as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The exports of services during July- January (2021-22) were recorded at $3944.91 million against the exports of $3320.17 million in July-January (2020-21), showing growth of 18.82 percent. The imports also rose by 39.49 percent by growing from $4426.30 million last year to $6174.42 million during the period under review
Moreover, government expects that exports from the country during the month of March 2022 are expected to continue their upward trend, backed by the export-oriented policies that have been implemented in the recent past, finance ministry said in a report. The stabilizing of the Real Effective Exchange will also help exports in keeping the rising trend. On the other hand, the imports would probably return to a level that is more in line with domestic economic activity and the levels of international commodity prices. As a result, the trade balance may less deteriorate in Mar 2022 as well.
However, according to the report, the geopolitical risks still persist. The government measures designed to stimulate exports and discourage unnecessary imports is expected to contribute to constrain current account deficit. The remittances are also expected to revert to normal levels during the month of March as in January and February, the inflows declined to lower levels mainly due to negative seasonality. Taking these factors into account, as well as its other components, the current account deficit is expected to stay well below the unsustainable levels observed during the period from Aug 2021 up to Jan 2022.
