The trade deficit in the first seven months of the fiscal year reached $28.8 billion increasing by 91.97 percent, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Thursday.

As per the monthly trade figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), January exports shrunk by 30.19 percent to $3.36 billion as compared to $4.8 billion recorded in December 2021.

However, the imports during January 2022 were recorded at $5.9 billion as compared to the $7.6 billion registered in December 2021 which was a decline of 22 percent.

On a year-on-year basis, Pakistan’s exports witnessed an increase of 18.7 percent as it rose to $2.54 billion in January this year as compared to $2.1 billion recorded in the same month of the previous year. 

The imports in January 2022 also increased by 23 percent to $5.9 billion as compared to $4.8 billion registered in the corresponding month of 2021 while the trade deficit during the corresponding period rose by 26 percent.