ISLAMABAD: The country’s trade deficit widened by 119.94 per cent in the first two months of this fiscal year (FY22) to $7.491 billion against $3.406bn last year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported on Friday.

The trade deficit is driven largely by an almost double increase in imports compared to exports from the country.

Trade gap has been widening since December 2020, mainly led by exponential growth in imports and comparatively slow growth in exports.

The import bill in July-August 2021 went up 72.59pc to $12.064bn against $6.990bn over the corresponding months of FY20. In FY21, the import bill surged by 25.8pc, or $11.517bn, to $56.091bn from $44.574bn in FY20.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2021