ISLAMABAD: After suffering the FY25’s first contraction of 5.57 per cent in February, the merchandise exports grew a paltry 1.95 per cent year-on-year in March, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

The growth momentum in exports from Pakistan picked pace in July owing to improved orders and stability in the exchange rate. The increase in export proceeds decelerated to a single digit in October and continued slowing in the following months.

The exports grew 11.83pc in July, followed by 16pc in August, 13.52pc in September, 10.64pc in October, 8.98pc in November, 0.67pc in December and 4.59pc in January.

The exports reached $2.62bn in March against $2.56bn in the corresponding month last year. On a month-on-month basis, exports increased 5.10pc.

In the first nine months of FY25, export proceeds stood at $24.69bn in July-March FY25 as against $22.93bn over the corresponding months of last year, showing an increase of 6.33pc.

Global buyers have redirected clothing sourcing from Bangladesh and China and placed orders with Pakistan in the past few months. It allows exporters to capitalise on the opportunity and capture the market.

The impact of the recent rise in gas tariffs and a phased 20pc levy on the supply of natural gas/RLNG to the textile industry’s captive power plants (CPPs) will be visible in the following months.

In FY24, Pakistan’s merchandise exports rose 10.54pc to $30.64bn from $27.72bn in the preceding year.

Trade deficit

According to the PBS data, imports grew 6.33pc to $42.58bn in July-March FY25 from $40.05bn over the last year. Imports fell to $4.74bn in March from $4.85bn last year, a decline of 2.45pc. Month-on-month, imports decreased 1.11pc.

The IMF revised its import forecast downward by $3.3bn from $60.5bn to $57.2bn for FY25, converging with the government’s projection of $57.3bn. In FY24, imports fell 0.84pc to $54.73bn compared to $55.19bn in FY23.

The trade deficit in July-March FY25 increased by 4.50pc to $17.89bn from $17.13bn over the last year. In March, the deficit decelerated by 7.83pc to $2.12bn from $2.29bn last year. The trade gap contracted to $24.08bn in FY24 from $27.47bn in the preceding year.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2025