Pakistan’s trade numbers show an overall decline in the first half of thecurrent fiscal year, and its export recovery is dependent on the pace ofglobal economic recovery and reduction in uncertainty, according to WorldBank Senior Economist, Gonzalo Verela.
Pakistan’s July-December disaggregated trade data shows a decline in bothexports and imports, with exports of goods taking big hits during theperiod, Varela stated regarding the rising uncertainty of mattersconcerning the country’s overall trade.ALSO READ
In a series of tweets, the trade and macroeconomic researcher highlightedthat overall exports fell in July-December FY23 with services showingmarginal improvement. “Pakistan’s exports have declined in H1 FY23 relativeto H1 FY22 by 4%. The fall is driven by goods #exports that fell by 5.8%, ”Varela noted.
According to the WB economist, exports expanded to Italy, Spain, Germany,and the Netherlands apart from contractions of shipments to China, theUnited States, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates.
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Varela went on to say that textile exports, in particular, were stillgrowing, but very timidly. Non-textile exports, particularly vegetables,minerals, and base mineral products, declined, apart from high exportgrowth in foodstuffs, according to the data segmentation.
The data on month-to-month growth shows the export deceleration invegetable and mineral products, and this is where the estimates show thetextile industry’s slowdown during the period.