Pakistan's trade gap widens to $2.29b

Islamabad: Pakistan's trade deficit widened to $2.29 billion in April, compared with $1.1 billion in April last year, Statistic Bureau said on Saturday.

Exports stood at $1.8 billion in April this year, against $1.47 billion in the same period last year.

Imports were worth $4.1 billion compared with $2.57 billion last year.

"The increase in imports was mainly on account of higher oil prices and that of other commodities and there was a fairly decent growth in exports," said Asif Qureshi, head of research at Invisor Securities.

"Pakistan needs to find a solution to developing domestic energy sources," he added.

The deficit in April also widened 12.5 per cent from the $2.04 billion deficit posted in March.

The cumulative deficit for the 10 months July-April stood at $16.8 billion, widening nearly 51 per cent from the $11.14 billion posted in the same period a year ago.

Exports for the 10 months totalled $15.25 billion, compared with $13.85 billion in the year ago period.

Imports for the 10 months totalled $32.06 billion, up more than 28 per cent from the $24.99 billion deficit notched in the year ago period.