ISLAMABAD, Sep 08 (Online): The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has expressed grave concern over declining trend in exports, which have posted a downfall of around 20 percent to $1.58 billion in August 2020, startling especially for the economic managers who claimed that economy was recovering from the adverse effect of turbulent period of post-corona slowdown.
The apex trade body chief Mian Anjum Nisar said that the drop in exports during August period was really surprising, calling for out-of-the-box solutions for economic growth in these crucial times, as COVID-19 has adversely impacted the world economy as well as the Pakistan trade and industrial sectors.
According to data, Pakistan’s exports during the month of August recorded a downfall of around 20 percent in dollar terms, as compared to the same period last year. It’s amazing that the dip in Aug export figures comes after a surge in exports during July 2020, when Covid-19 restrictions were more stringently in place. In first two months of July-Aug the exports also went down by nearly 4 percent, however, country’s trade deficit contracted to $3.4 billion due to shrinking imports. The trade deficit, which stood at $3.7 billion in the comparative period of last fiscal year, shrank to $3.4 billion during July-August of 2020-21. In absolute terms, there was a reduction of $307 million or around 8 percent in trade deficit in the current fiscal year. Overall, imports dipped 6.3 percent to around $7 billion during the July-Aug.
Mian Anjum Nisar said that the flooding situation in the country, especially in Karachi, has also affected the overall industrial operations, indicating the exports volume might not begin to recover in Sept as economic activity was not expected to return to normal immediately. He said that power trippings, slowdown in business activities, delay in transportation and hampering of port operations were some of the issues faced by the exporters due to the unprecedented rains across the country.
