*ISLAMABAD: *Pakistan trade balance has improved by 19pc, as the deficitdeclined from $37.6 billion to $30.6 billion during the last fiscal year.
“The country’s exports remained stable at around $23 billion,” the one-yearperformance report shared by the Establishment Division revealed.“Pakistani exports were protected from external shocks arising fromregional geopolitical uncertainty in the wake of Pulwama incident,depreciation of major currencies and trade war between two major markets,the United States and China.”
According to the report, the stability in exports was due to various policyinterventions, the extension of PM’s Export Enhancement Package for threeyears, relief to five major export sectors in terms of energy prices,rationalisation of the exchange rate and import tariff concession on 422raw materials of export-oriented industries.
The country’s imports reduced from $60.8 billion to $53.8 billion (12pc)during the last fiscal year (FY19).
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As per the report, prudent steps were taken to manage the outflow ofimports. These included imposition of regulatory duty on non-essentialimported items, sanitary and phytosanitary restrictions imposed on importedfood items, labelling conditions and mandatory halal certification imposedon imported edible products, reforms in import policy for used cars etc.
The government also successfully got market access in different potentialmarkets of the world, including China and the Middle East.
