Trade gap narrows to $12.7 billion

[LahoreEstate]

Saturday, April 11, 2009
By Aftab Maken

ISLAMABAD: Trade deficit for the first nine months (July-March) of the current fiscal year 2008-09 fell 12.51 per cent to $12.7 billion compared to $14.52 billion in the same period last year, the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) said on Friday.

The balance of trade once again registered a double-digit decline as imports fell, helping the policy-makers to keep the current account deficit (CAD) well below 6 per cent of gross domestic product.

“The narrowing of trade gap indicates an economic slowdown and it will remain the same in the coming months,” said an analyst.

During July-March 2008-09, exports fell to $13.41 billion and imports were down to $26.12 billion compared to $13.43 billion and $27.95 billion respectively in the same period last year. Imports were 6.56 per cent lower while exports edged down 0.13 per cent, FBS data showed.

The decline in exports means that the country may miss the export target of $22.10 billion for 2008-09. On the other hand, owing to the decrease in imports they will remain well below the target of $30 billion for the whole year, the analyst anticipated.

Imports were $2.12 billion in February 2009, down 41 per cent compared to $3.66 billion in February 2008. Exports in February 2009 were $1.2 billion against $1.5 billion last year, a decrease of 17.68 per cent, the data showed.

Comparing exports of March 2009 with the previous month, the data showed a growth of 3.71 per cent at $1.2 billion. Imports also increased by 10.91 per cent from $2.1 to $2.3 billion.

Exports in March 2009 registered a negative growth of 25.88 per cent to $1.2 billion compared with $1.7 billion in March 2008 while imports recorded negative growth of 38.38 per cent from $3.8 billion in March 2008 to $2.3 billion in March 2009.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=171771