Islamabad: Pakistan’s trade deficit widened to USD 10.8 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year as imports grew faster than exports, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed.

The trade gap for July to September was 15 percent higher than the same period last year, increasing by about USD 1.4 billion from USD 9.37 billion.

Imports rose 13.2 percent year on year to USD 19.2 billion during the quarter, an increase of about USD 2.2 billion. Exports reached USD 8.4 billion, up 10.8 percent or USD 824 million from the corresponding period last year.

In September, exports increased 16 per cent from the previous month to USD 2.9 billion, while imports rose 11.5 percent to about USD 6.5 billion.

The monthly trade deficit stood at around USD 3.6 billion, up 8 percent from August. Compared with September last year, exports increased 17.6 percent, and imports rose 11 percent.

Petroleum imports contributed to the increase in the import bill during the first two months of FY27. The value of crude oil imports rose 40.5 percent, while the quantity imported increased 13.7 percent, according to PBS data.

Imports of liquefied petroleum gas increased 47 percent, while imports of petroleum products and liquefied natural gas declined by 26 percent and 28.6 percent, respectively.

The government has told the International Monetary Fund that tariff rationalisation under the National Tariff Policy is intended to reduce production costs and support exports. It has also allocated Rs88 billion for concessional lending to exporters at an interest rate of 4.5 percent.

For the current fiscal year, the government expects imports to reach USD 70 billion, while its export target stands at USD 32.5 billion.