in October, Pakistan’s trade deficit increased to $2.174 billion, a 43.21% month-on-month deterioration compared to the previous month’s deficit of $1.52 billion, as per the revised data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). However, there was a 1.05% year-on-year improvement from October 2022’s deficit of $2.2 billion.
Exports witnessed a month-on-month growth of 8.64%, reaching $2.69 billion in October 2023, up from $2.48 billion in September 2023. On the other hand, imports surged by 21.78% month-on-month, totaling $4.86 billion in October 2023, compared to $4 billion in the preceding month.
In Pakistani Rupees, October 2023 exports were provisionally valued at Rs754 billion, surpassing the September 2023 figure of Rs737.3 billion. The primary export commodities for October 2023 included Knitwear (Rs104 billion), Readymade garments (Rs76.92 billion), Bed wear (Rs68.3 billion), Rice Others (Rs66.56 billion), Cotton Cloth (Rs47.76 billion), Oil seeds, nuts, and kernels (Rs33.9 billion), Towels (Rs26.3 billion), Cotton Yarn (Rs25.84 billion), Rice basmati (Rs18.78 billion), and Madeup articles (excluding towels & bedwear) (Rs17.98 billion).
Imports, in terms of Pakistani Rupees, amounted to Rs1.36 trillion (provisional) in October 2023, up from Rs1.19 trillion in September 2023.
The major import categories for October 2023 included Petroleum products (Rs181.14 billion), Petroleum crude (Rs151.33 billion), Natural gas, liquefied (Rs78.02 billion), Electric machinery & apparatus (Rs73.78 billion), Plastic Materials (Rs58 billion), Palm oil (Rs57.67 billion), Iron & steel (Rs51.12 billion), Mobile phones (Rs46.5 billion), Wheat unmilled (Rs33.82 billion), and Fertilizer manufactured (Rs32 billion).
Rupee Gains More Value On Friday On The Back Of Approval Of Economic Review By IMF
Meanwhile, in Friday’s interbank session, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) showed resilience against the US dollar, appreciating by more than 88 paisa. The day concluded with the currency settling at PKR 286.5 per USD, a favorable shift from the previous day’s closure at PKR 287.38.
Throughout the trading day, the local unit reached an intraday high bid of 287.05 and a low ask of 286.75.
