Pakistan’s merchandise trade deficit rose by 28.89pc per cent month-on-month in August, climbing to $3.53 billion compared to $2.73bn in July, data shared by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday showed.

PBS data showed in August this year, the country’s exports stood at $2.5bn compared to imports of $6.03bn. On a month-on-month basis, exports increased by 11.07pc while imports jumped by 20.84pc.

However, the trade deficit decreased by 18.48pc year-on-year. In August 2021, the trade deficit stood at $4.33bn.

On a year-on-year basis, exports increased by 11.44pc while imports shrank by 8.26pc.

In the first two months of the current fiscal year, the trade deficit amounted to $6.26bn, a decline of 17.13pc compared to the figure of $7.56bn during the same time in FY22.

In rupee terms, exports increased by 11.91pc month-on-month to Rs533.63bn in August compared to Rs494.72bn in July. On the other hand, imports rose to Rs1.33 trillion in August, a jump of 21.76pc from July’s figure of $1.09tr.

On a year-on-year basis, exports recorded a jump of 50.11pc, clocking in at Rs553.63bn in August compared to Rs368.81bn in the corresponding month last year. Imports were up 23.62pc, rising to Rs1.33tr in August 2022 compared to Rs1.07tr last year.