Pakistan’s trade deficit widened by 20.84 per cent to $2.597 billion in January from $2.149billion over the same month last year mainly on account of surging duty-free imports, reports Dawn.

The trade deficit swelled for the second consecutive month suggesting that consumption is reviving. An increase in export could mean recovering global economy and improvement in domestic production.

During the first seven months (July-January) of FY21 the trade deficit increased 8.24pc to $14.96bn from $13.82bn in the corresponding period last year.

Earlier, the country’s trade deficit during FY20 had narrowed to $23.099bn from $31.820bn.

Official data available with Dawn showed the country’s imports have been rising since September 2020. The duty-free import value recorded an unprecedented growth of 80pc in December while it grew by 30pc in January.

In the July-January period of 2020-21, the duty-free imports witnessed an increase of 27pc in terms of dollars over the last year. In overall imports, the share of duty-free import has surged 42pc in the seven months this year from 35pc over the same period last year.

As a result of the increase in duty-free imports, in January, the import bill rose by 14.68pc year-on-year to $4.725bn as against $4.120bn over the corresponding month last year. Meanwhile, on a month-on-month basis, imports in January dipped by 5.59pc compared to December.