Jul-Nov fy20: Pakistan's trade deficit shrinks 33pc to $9.7bn.

Pakistan's trade deficit shrank one-third to $9.7 billion in first five months of the current fiscal year on the back of compression of imports as growth in exports remained tepid, which may again result in missing the annual target.

Trade figures that the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) released on Wednesday showed that exports fell in November over the preceding month and average increase in exports in July-November was less than 5percent. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government may again miss the annual export target until monthly shipments are increased to $2.5 billion in the remaining seven months of the current fiscal year.

Official data showed that on average monthly exports stood at $1.9 billion from July through November. Around $2 billion in monthly exports did not correspond with the hype created by the government about improvement in exports.

Cumulatively, the exports grew 4.8percent or just $436 million to $9.54 billion in the July-November period of the current fiscal year, reported the PBS...