July 26, 2007	Thursday	Rajab 10, 1428

ISLAMABAD, July 25: The services sector export declined by 0.84 per cent in the first 11 months (July-May) period of the fiscal year 2006-07 over the same period of last year, Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) said on Saturday.

The services export proceeds reached $3.319 billion in the period under review as against $3.347 billion over the same period last year.

In May 2007 the services exports witnessed a robust growth of 12.23 per cent to $250.612 million as against the $223.302 million recorded in May 2006.

This showed that there was a huge potential for services export, which remained untapped due to lack of concentration on the promotion of services export in foreign markets.

On the other hand, the import of services rose by 1.45 per cent to $7.523 billion in July-May period of the current fiscal year as against $7.415 billion over the same period of the last year.

Imports of services, however, dipped by 10.24 per cent to $667.427 million in May 2007 as against $743.535 million over the same month of last year.

The deficit in trade in services widened by 3.33 per cent to $4.203 billion during the first 11 months of the current fiscal year as against $4.068 billion over the same period of the last year.