The President of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI),Muhammad Shakeel Munir, has voiced his concern about Pakistan’s risingtrade deficit which widened by 70 percent to $35.4 billion from July 2021to March 2022.
The deficit has been attributed to the increasing imports and stagnantexports which should be heeded by policymakers.
While talking to a delegation of traders, Munir also called for urgentremedial measures to curb the unhealthy trend as it can create a myriad ofproblems for the already fragile economy.
Munir said that the trade deficit had reached an all-time high of $37.7billion in FY 2017-18 but the efforts of the government had reduced it to$23.2 billion in 2019-20. However, the trade deficit has again increasedalarmingly, and if this trend continues, it could cross $40 billion by theend of this fiscal year.
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He said that despite being an agricultural country, Pakistan imports manyagricultural products, including wheat, sugar, palm oil, and other fooditems, which has been contributing to the rising trade deficit.
The president stressed that the government’s agriculture researchinstitutes should work with farmers and help them improve the per acreyield of agriculture productivity to help the indigenous production meetthe local needs and aid the country in scaling back on its reliance onimported food items.link