ISLAMABAD, April 5: Pakistan's trade deficit shot up to a record $1,599.88 million (Rs91.91 billion) during the first nine months of the fiscal year 2003-04, according to the aggregate trade figures released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics here on Monday.

The resultant increase of 36.30 per cent in trade imbalance over the corresponding period of previous year was all the more alarming because it overshot the increase in exports by nearly 300 per cent.

The galloping trade gap took place in spite of the fact that the exports registered a substantial jump of 13.32 per cent in dollars and of 11 per cent in rupees. The exports during the period July-March 2003-04 amounted to $8,902.23 million (Rs512.23 billion).

The brilliant performance of experts was, however, eclipsed by the burgeoning imports, which amounted to $10,502.11 million (Rs604.15 billion), denoting an increase of 16.30pc in the US dollar and of 13.96pc in the local currency.

A setback is evident in respect of exports on two counts, that is, in terms of the target and of the ratio to imports. In spite of the substantial rise in exports, these fell short by about $18 million at the end of the nine-month period under review.

The FBS report also indicates a downward slide of the ratio of exports to imports. While during July-March 2002-03, these had covered 87.00pc of exports, the fraction of imports paid for by exports during the same period of current financial year dropped to the level of 84.76pc.

The accelerated imports also caused a new record to be established for a single month were broken in the matter of trade deficit. This increased by 68.01pc in March 2004 as compared to the previous month (February 2004).

The exports during the nine-month period of the year increased to $1,021.00 million (Rs58.65 billion), up by 12.67pc over the previous month (February 2004). But the increase in imports was two-fold. These stood at $1,412.75 million (Rs81.16 billion), up 23.99pc from the previous month. Consequently, the trade gap in March 2004 stood at $491.74 million.

As compared to March 2003, the exports in March 2004 were up by 9.13pc and imports by 11.20pc, while the trade deficit increased by 16.97pc.