Exports of home textile, men’s garments, cotton fabric, jerseys and T-shirts by Pakistan increased in August 2021 compared to the corresponding month of 2020, announced Abdul Razak Dawood, Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Pakistan’s exports to the US, China, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain increased while those to Afghanistan, Denmark, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore and the Czech Republic decreased during August 2021 as compared to August 2020.

Exports of a few textile items surged owing to the forthcoming Christmas seasons, informs Zulfikar Thaver, President, Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME). He opined the uptrend in imports would continue until Pakistan curtailed inward shipments of food items, luxury goods and cars. Sana Tawlik,, Economist, Arif Habib Limited, says, the uptick in trade deficit during August was primarily due to the increase in imports of goods.

The import growth was led mainly by machinery, petroleum and food categories. Ahmad Jawad, Vice President, Pakistan Business Forum, states, Pakistan’s trade deficit increased by 144 per cent to $4.2 billion in August 2021. The country imported merchandise worth billions of dollars every month but it could not bear such a high outflow of foreign exchange, he adds.

He urges the State Bank of Pakistan to ensure a modest recovery in Pakistani rupee. The bank uses exchange rate depreciation as a tool to make imports expensive but so far this mechanism has failed to arrest the rise in imports.