Pakistan’s Trade Gap Narrows 55.9% in September as Imports Fall

Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan’s trade deficit narrowed by 55.9 percent in September as imports fell faster than exports.

The trade gap narrowed to $897.9 million in the third month of the fiscal year, from $2.03 billion a year ago, according to data posted on the Web site of the Federal Bureau of Statistics in Islamabad.

Overseas sales fell 14.2 percent to $1.52 billion, while imports fell 36.4 percent to $2.42 billion, according to the data.

Pakistan is seeking to boost exports to sustain growth in a country where the World Bank estimates two-thirds of the population of 160 million people survive on less than $2 a day.

Pakistan’s trade deficit narrowed 18.5 percent to $17 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30, from $20.7 billion in the previous 12 months, according to the statistics agency. Exports fell 6.7 percent to $17.8 billion and imports dropped 12.9 percent to $34.8 billion.