TLTP
\nISLAMABAD
\nPakistan Businesses Forum (PBF) on Thursday said that return of the world to normal life from the widespread lockdown and the gradual reopening of businesses around the globe have positively impacted Pakistan\u2019s balance of trade.
\nPakistan saved $8.6 billion as trade loss shrank 27 percent in the fiscal year that ended on June 30th. President PBF Sahibzada Mian Usman Zulfiqar said Pakistan relies heavily on energy imports. It meets over 70 percent of domestic demand through imports. The share of energy, however, fell to one-fifth of total imports in recent months following the oil price crash.
\nBesides, the recent petroleum product crisis in Pakistan suggested that at least three oil marketing companies (OMCs) did not import oil, meaning imports remained low in terms of volumes as well in May.
\nThe PBF, however, expressed concern over a significant drop in imports as around 60 percent of imports were made by the export sector. The improvement in exports came after the country\u2019s textile sector received new orders, including from the global health sector in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.
\nSimilarly imports fell to their lowest level in nine years after Pakistan raised duties and adopted measures to curb spending. It reduced the current account deficit \u2013 the loss of foreign exchange as recorded in the country\u2019s dollar account with the rest of the world \u2013 by more than 73% in the first nine months of the year.
\nHowever, that wasn\u2019t enough to change our import-to-export ratio. Pakistan still spends more than two dollars for every dollar earned. It was the same last year.
\nIn the latest fiscal year, Pakistan exported goods worth $21.3 billion compared to imports of $44.6 billion, leaving it with a deficit of $23 billion.
\nThe trade deficit means we are paying more on goods and services we are buying from the world than what we are earning by selling our products and services to them.
\n The latest data shows a drop of $10 billion in our annual imports but global demand suppression triggered by the coronavirus pandemic in the last quarter pushed exports down by 6.84% or $1.5 billion, compared to fiscal year 2019. TTLP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TLTP ISLAMABAD Pakistan Businesses Forum (PBF) on Thursday said that return of the world to normal life from the widespread lockdown and the gradual reopening of businesses around the globe have positively impacted Pakistan\u2019s balance of trade. Pakistan saved $8.6 billion as trade loss shrank 27 percent in the fiscal year that ended on June […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-132946","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n