Trade deficit likely to increase by $3bn amid flood devastation

Trade deficit likely to increase by $3bn amid flood devastation. Due to ongoing floods and torrential rains in the country, the trade deficit is likely to increase by $3 billion.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the production of vegetables, fruits, tobacco, cement, and leather products has been severely affected due to floods, which will reduce exports, adding that the trade deficit is likely to increase by 3 billion dollars due to a decrease in exports and an increase in imports.

Finance Ministry sources said that in order to achieve the export target, immediate and concrete measures are needed at the government level for the export sector, and new markets for exports in the European Union and the United States will have to be found.

It is pertinent to mention that in the budget of the current financial year, the target set for exports is $35 billion.

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The catastrophic floods in Pakistan have caused economic damages from $10 billion to $12.5 billion apart from the loss of lives as estimated by the government, projecting a rise in inflation in the range of 24-27% on touch 30% for the current fiscal year.

A high-profile committee with representation from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning, State Bank of Pakistan, FBR, PIDE and others evaluated that poverty and unemployment have gone up manifold, rising from 21.9% to over 36%.

Some 37% of the population has been hit by poverty after 118 districts of the country were ravaged by severe flooding.