ISLAMABAD, June 11: Pakistan's trade deficit widened to a provisional $1.14 billion in May from $1.07 billion in April, but was down 1.74 per cent as compared with May 2006, official data showed on Monday.

In May 2006, the trade deficit was $1.16 billion.

The cumulative trade deficit for the first 11 months (July-May) of the 2006-07 fiscal year that ends on June 30, was $12.26 billion against $10.65 billion in the same period the previous year, data from the Federal Bureau of Statistics showed.

The data showed exports increased to $1.60 billion in May from $1.49 billion in April and were 8.23 per cent up from the May 2006 figure of $1.48 billion, while imports were $2.75 billion, up from $2.64 billion in the same month last year.

For the July-May 2006-07 period, exports were worth $15.48 billion and imports were worth $27.74 billion.

Exports and imports in the corresponding period of last year were worth $14.94 billion and $25.59 billion, respectively.

With one month left in the fiscal year, Pakistan is likely to miss its 2006-07 export target of $18.6 billion. The government said last week rice exports had declined this year and growth in textile exports had been slow.

The government has proposed an export target of $19 billion and an import target of $29.5 billion for the 2007-08 fiscal year, beginning in July. —Reuters