ISLAMABAD  - The country’s services trade deficit contracted by 41.8 percent during the first eight months of the current financial year (2020-21) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The services trade deficit during July-February (2020-21) was recorded at $1338.58 million against the deficit of $2299.87 million in July-February (2019-20), according to the latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The services exports during the period under review witnessed slight downfall of 0.17 percent and were recorded at $3809.03 million against the exports of $3815.39 million last year.

On the other hand, the imports into the country shrunk by 15.82 percent by falling from $6115.26 million to $5147.61 million, the PBS data revealed.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the services exports from the country increased by 2.99 percent and were recorded at $484.08 million in February 2021 against the exports of $470.01 million in February 2020. On the other hand, the imports witnessed a decrease of 23.59 percent by going down from $877.05 million in February 2020 to $670.12 million in February 2021, the data revealed. On month-on-month basis, the exports from the country witnessed slight increase of 0.66 percent in February 2021 when compared to the exports of $480.92 million in January 2021.

On the other hand, imports into the country increased by 4.03 percent in February 2020 when compared to the imports of $644.15 million in January 2021, the PBS data revealed.