ISLAMABAD: Services exports grew for the second consecutive month, posting a rise of 6.77 per cent year-on-year in March after contraction for the previous four months, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data showed on Monday.

Services exports reached $710.75 million from the $665.68m in the corresponding month last year. On a month-on-month basis, the services export posted a growth of 13pc.

In rupee terms, the export of services grew 6.20pc in March to Rs198.08bn against Rs186.53bn in the corresponding month last year.

The export of services reached $5.80bn in the July-March period of FY24 against $5.82bn in the same period last year, shrinking 0.08pc. In rupee terms, they recorded a massive improvement of 20.69pc to Rs1.65 trillion against Rs1.36bn in 9MFY23.

In FY23, the export of services stood at $7.30bn, up from $7.10bn in the preceding year, or 2.78%.

Pakistan emerged as the second top country in the world based on number of freelancers last year when IT products were exported to 170 countries.

At the same time, the import of services increased by 13.51pc to $800.26m in March from $705.04m over the corresponding month of last year.

The import of services increased by 20.63pc to $7.46bn in 9MFY24 against $6.18bn in the corresponding period last year. The trade deficit in services widened by 341.90pc to $1.65bn in July-March, compared to $374.65 m in the corresponding months last year.

In March, the trade deficit in services increased by 127.41pc to $89.51m against $39.36m over the corresponding month last year.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2024