Trade Deficit Reduces by 11% in First 8 Months of FY19

[Norwegian]

Trade Deficit Reduces by 11% in First 8 Months of FY19

The trade deficit of the country continues to show positive signs with each passing month as it has reduced by 11 percent in the eight months of the current financial year 2018-19 compared with the similar period of the previous financial year.

According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the trade deficit reduced by $2.66 billion during the period of July to February due to the growth in exports and a decrease in the value of imports bill.

Overall, the trade deficit decreased to $21.5 billion in the eight months of FY19 as against of $24.191 billion recorded in the same period of the financial year 2017-18.

The exports receipts of the country showed a slight growth of 1.85 percent or $275 million during the said period. It increased to $15.11 billion in the eight months of FY19 as compared with $14.83 billion recorded in the last financial year.

Further, a marked improvement was seen on the imports side which reduced significantly by over 6% or $2.3 billion in the eight months of FY19 to stand at $36.6 billion. The imports bill stood at $39 billion in the same period of FY18.

The incumbent government took several measures to control the imports of various products, especially luxuries items, with policies or through increasing regulatory duties on various items. This gradually caused the declining trend in imports in the current financial year.

The reduction of trade deficit will further translate its positive impact on the balance of payment situation. Besides, the foreign exchange reserves are set to increase to more than $19 billion in months to come. On the other hand, Rupee is likely to improve its standing against Dollar.

 

[Norwegian]

@BHarwana @Nilgiri @Champion_Usmani @The Eagle @Dubious @BATMAN @Path-Finder @Proudpakistaniguy @Indus Pakistan @PakSword @graphican

 

[Indus Pakistan]

@BHarwana @Nilgiri @Champion_Usmani @The Eagle @Dubious @BATMAN @Path-Finder @Proudpakistaniguy @Indus Pakistan @PakSword @graphican

Good news but the picture still looks bleak. The problem lies with exports which are too low. Instead of reducing imports we should be looking to increase exports which would do the country good and move it to progress. However the exports are not really showning any tangible improvements.

Frankly I don't expect them to improve either. The problem is the advisor for commerce is Abdul Razak Dawood who is part of the rent seeking mafia going as industrialists. Expect no change from him. It's like having godfather trying to get rid of the mafia. If PTI can deliver reforms in education and health that would be a achievement. I have lost hope in the economy improving.

Rentier capitalism is a Marxist term currently used to describe the belief in economic practices of monopolization of access to any (physical, financial, intellectual, etc.) kind of property, and gaining significant amounts of profit without contribution to society.

Rent seeking industrialists rely on monopoly mostly provided by the state under which they run a enterprise which supplies demand to consumers who have no other options because the state blocks off other supplies. Take car auto sector. It's all depends on rent seeking. Consumers in Pakistan can't import cars from abroad [without all sort of hurdles] and are forced to buy from car mafia insid the country which always has local gangsters acting as agents for multinationals. The result is inefficent auto sector that only exists within the monopoly provided by the state. In this environment there is no competition to innovate or improve. such industry will never stand on it's own feet in thousand years. Being reliant on monoply inside Pakistan it is entirely not able to compete abroad thus expect no exports.

In UK one plant of Honda manufactures over 250,000 cars yet it will close down. In Pakistan more then ten manufactuerers combined produce less then 150,000 cars. This inefficiency is then paid by the poor Pakistan consumer. But these industrilist mafia have too much political clout and no government can touch them.

 

[Path-Finder]

The things are improving but expecting miracles overnight should be avoided. there is unfortunately turbulence as the agents of the enemies tooi and zaleeldari are working for their masters overtime to bring the country down. May Allah protect us all.

 

[KediKesenFare3]

Devaluation. This is what Pakistan needs urgently but no leader in Islamabad would dare this step. To be honest, Turkey was forced by the rules of the markets to do so. It hurts but the results are good:
fom a 75 billion USD trade deficit to a 27 billion USD - and it's still falling.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/economy/turkey-800m-current-account-deficit-expected-in-jan/1412993

Decreasing imports, rising exports and tourism revenue.

 

[Pakistansdefender]

Good news but the picture still looks bleak. The problem lies with exports which are too low. Instead of reducing imports we should be looking to increase exports which would do the country good and move it to progress. However the exports are not really showning any tangible improvements.

Frankly I don't expect them to improve either. The problem is the advisor for commerce is Abdul Razak Dawood who is part of the rent seeking mafia going as industrialists. Expect no change from him. It's like having godfather trying to get rid of the mafia. If PTI can deliver reforms in education and health that would be a achievement. I have lost hope in the economy improving.

Rentier capitalism is a Marxist term currently used to describe the belief in economic practices of monopolization of access to any (physical, financial, intellectual, etc.) kind of property, and gaining significant amounts of profit without contribution to society.

Rent seeking industrialists rely on monopoly mostly provided by the state under which they run a enterprise which supplies demand to consumers who have no other options because the state blocks off other supplies. Take car auto sector. It's all depends on rent seeking. Consumers in Pakistan can't import cars from abroad [without all sort of hurdles] and are forced to buy from car mafia insid the country which always has local gangsters acting as agents for multinationals. The result is inefficent auto sector that only exists within the monopoly provided by the state. In this environment there is no competition to innovate or improve. such industry will never stand on it's own feet in thousand years. Being reliant on monoply inside Pakistan it is entirely not able to compete abroad thus expect no exports.

In UK one plant of Honda manufactures over 250,000 cars yet it will close down. In Pakistan more then ten manufactuerers combined produce less then 150,000 cars. This inefficiency is then paid by the poor Pakistan consumer. But these industrilist mafia have too much political clout and no government can touch them.

The 100 or so textile factories need time to run. They have their seasons and now cotton would be Avalible and the factories would start soon.

 

[Imran Khan]

Good news but the picture still looks bleak. The problem lies with exports which are too low. Instead of reducing imports we should be looking to increase exports which would do the country good and move it to progress. However the exports are not really showning any tangible improvements.

Frankly I don't expect them to improve either. The problem is the advisor for commerce is Abdul Razak Dawood who is part of the rent seeking mafia going as industrialists. Expect no change from him. It's like having godfather trying to get rid of the mafia. If PTI can deliver reforms in education and health that would be a achievement. I have lost hope in the economy improving.

Rentier capitalism is a Marxist term currently used to describe the belief in economic practices of monopolization of access to any (physical, financial, intellectual, etc.) kind of property, and gaining significant amounts of profit without contribution to society.

Rent seeking industrialists rely on monopoly mostly provided by the state under which they run a enterprise which supplies demand to consumers who have no other options because the state blocks off other supplies. Take car auto sector. It's all depends on rent seeking. Consumers in Pakistan can't import cars from abroad [without all sort of hurdles] and are forced to buy from car mafia insid the country which always has local gangsters acting as agents for multinationals. The result is inefficent auto sector that only exists within the monopoly provided by the state. In this environment there is no competition to innovate or improve. such industry will never stand on it's own feet in thousand years. Being reliant on monoply inside Pakistan it is entirely not able to compete abroad thus expect no exports.

In UK one plant of Honda manufactures over 250,000 cars yet it will close down. In Pakistan more then ten manufactuerers combined produce less then 150,000 cars. This inefficiency is then paid by the poor Pakistan consumer. But these industrilist mafia have too much political clout and no government can touch them.

when our 50% nation sleeping in farms day night for 13bn$ agriculture sector what we can do for exports sir ? i wish there will be no more water for agriculture in future so our jahil awam move to industry and services sector

 

[Mamadouso]

Pakistan need to put urgent moratorium on exporting raw material in their basic form like cotton or unprocessed foods.

Put the economy on war footing and start adding value to cotton (textiles) and foodstuffs. Or do a barter for items from abroad, couple of years of this and this will nurture domestic manufacturing.