Chairman Economic Policy and Business Development (EPBD) Gohar Ejaz has voiced deep concern over Pakistan\u2019s widening trade deficit, warning that the growing imbalance poses a serious threat to the country\u2019s external account stability.<\/p>\n
He said the trade deficit surged by 33.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of FY26, reaching $9.43 billion, as exports fell 3.9 percent to $7.6 billion while imports jumped 13.9 percent to $17.03 billion.<\/p>\n
Gohar Ejaz noted that the decline in exports was mainly driven by a 27 percent fall in the food group, while imports in transport and textile groups skyrocketed by 142 percent and 44 percent, respectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis widening trade gap underscores deep structural flaws in our economy,\u201d he remarked, adding that Pakistan\u2019s export base remains narrow, low-value, and undiversified, while imports are largely consumption-driven and inelastic.<\/p>\n
He stressed that export-led growth anchored in competitiveness, productivity, innovation, and market diversification is the only sustainable solution to the persistent external imbalances.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout making our exports competitive and expanding our product and market base, Pakistan will continue to face recurring balance-of-payments crises and fall back into boom-and-bust cycles,\u201d Gohar warned.<\/p>\n
He urged urgent policy measures to enhance industrial productivity, encourage innovation, and support export diversification, emphasizing that only a competitive export sector can secure long-term economic stability for the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chairman Economic Policy and Business Development (EPBD) Gohar Ejaz has voiced deep concern over Pakistan\u2019s widening trade deficit, warning that the growing imbalance poses a serious threat to the country\u2019s … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[379],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t