{"id":109177,"date":"2026-06-04T02:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T02:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/pakistans-trade-deficit-narrows-14-in-may-as-imports-plunge\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T02:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T02:36:08","slug":"pakistans-trade-deficit-narrows-14-in-may-as-imports-plunge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/pakistans-trade-deficit-narrows-14-in-may-as-imports-plunge\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan\u2019s trade deficit narrows 14% in May as imports plunge"},"content":{"rendered":"
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KARACHI: Pakistan\u2019s merchandise trade deficit shrank 14% year-on-year in May 2026, driven by a steep decline in imports, according to provisional data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The country posted a trade deficit of $2.58 billion in May, down from $2.99 billion in the same month last year and a sharp 39% drop from April 2026\u2019s $4.26 billion deficit.<\/p>\n

Imports fell to $5.28 billion, a 7% decrease from $5.66 billion a year earlier and a 21% drop from $6.73 billion in April. The decline in imports was the primary factor narrowing the monthly trade gap, easing pressure on Pakistan\u2019s external account.<\/p>\n

Exports rose modestly to $2.70 billion in May, up about 1% from $2.67 billion in May 2025. On a monthly basis, exports increased nearly 10% from $2.47 billion in April. In rupee terms, exports stood at PKR 753.7 billion, compared with PKR 752.4 billion a year earlier and PKR 688.7 billion in April.<\/p>\n

Despite the monthly improvement, Pakistan\u2019s cumulative trade deficit<\/a> widened during the first 11 months of fiscal year 2025-26. The trade gap reached $34.76 billion from July to May, up from $29.59 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.<\/p>\n

Exports in the 11-month period fell 5% to $27.90 billion from $29.56 billion a year earlier, while imports rose 7% to $62.66 billion from $59.15 billion.<\/p>\n

Analysts say sustained export growth and tighter controls on non-essential imports will be critical to improving Pakistan\u2019s balance-of-payments position in the coming months.<\/p>\n

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KARACHI: Pakistan\u2019s merchandise trade deficit shrank 14% year-on-year in May 2026, driven by a steep decline in imports, according to provisional data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The country posted a trade deficit of $2.58 billion in May, down from $2.99 billion in the same month last year and a sharp 39% […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.bolnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/port.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t