ISLAMABAD       The country’s services trade deficit narrowed by 36.54 percent during the first eight months of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The services trade deficit during July-February (2018-19) was recorded at $2.303 billion against the deficit of $3.630 billion during July-February (2017-18), showing decline of 36.54 percent, official data revealed.

The services’ imports into the country during the period under review decreased by 19.54 percent to $ 5.775 billion from $ 7.178 billion last year, according to latest data of PBS. Compared to imports, the exports of services witnessed a marginal negative growth of 2.14 percent during the period.

The services exports during the first eight months of current fiscal year were recorded at $3.472 billion against the exports of $3.548 billion during the same period of last year.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the services imports into the country reduced by 29.67 percent by declining from $ 0.865 billion in February 2018 to $ 0.608 billion in February 2019, the data revealed. The exports from the country also decreased by 7.47 percent by going down from $ 0.443 billon during February 2018 to $ 0.410 billion in February 2019.