ISLAMABAD: The trade deficit in services increased 12.3 per cent in the first five months of the current fiscal year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday.

The gap widened because of an upward trend in the import of services. It edged up to $2.1 billion in during the period under review. In November, the deficit went up 36.5pc year-on-year to $459 million.

Data shows exports of services posted a negative growth of 0.42pc year-on-year to $406.9m in November.

In July-November, services’ export proceeds rose 3.4pc to $2.07bn from $2bn a year ago.

Last year, exports of services increased 1.76pc to $5.55bn.

The import of services went up 7.7pc to $4.2bn in July-November against $3.87bn in the corresponding period of the last year.

In November, the import of services edged up 16.3pc year-on-year to $865.9m. Services’ imports in 2016-17 increased 2.96pc to $9.12bn.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2018