Sherry slams government for soaring imports and trade deficit

Islamabad: Parliamentary Leader of the PPP in the Senate, Senator Sherry Rehman, discussing the state of the trade deficit in Pakistan said Tuesday that Pakistan’s trade deficit had become an extremely worrying and a dangerous issue within the country.

“The inability of this government to balance trade as a consequence of sluggish exports compared to skyrocketing imports, has negatively impacted the entire state of the economy, as well as the wellbeing of the citizens of this country,” she said.

The PPP leader said, “According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Pakistan’s trade deficit for the month of December stood at a whopping $4.9 billion, which was an 87% year-on-year increase. The trade deficit for the first six months of the financial year (December-July) stood at a massive $25.5 billion. This represents a 107% year-on-year increase. The main reason for the high trade deficit was due to the imports of agricultural and petroleum products.”

The Senator continued, “Pakistan has historically been an agricultural economy, with a plethora of high-quality food items being exported throughout the world; however, under the failed leadership of the incumbent government, we are no longer self-sufficient in our crop production. The food import bill rose from $3.90 billion for the first 6 months of the last financial year, to $4.79 billion this year, which represents a 23% increase in food imports. Despite being the world’s 4th largest producer of sugarcane and 8th largest producer of wheat, Pakistan is having to import these essential commodities to meet the domestic demand. The government has recently announced that we will be importing 600,000 tonnes of sugar and 4 million tonnes of wheat to build reserves; this is going to further increase the trade deficit and lead to the devaluation of the currency. This economic spiral seeps into all parameters of human wellbeing, such as the increase in food insecurity, unemployment, and poverty.”

Discussing Pakistan’s massive imports she said, “Pakistan’s total import bill stands at a massive $40.65 billion in July-December from $24.45 billion last year, which is an alarming 66% increase. Other than the food bill, Pakistan’s bill for petroleum products stood at $10.18 billion this year, whereas last year it was at $4.77 billion which constitutes a 113% increase. On the other hand, import bill for machinery increased by 39.5% from $5.92 billion, compared to last year when it was $4.24 billion.”

The Senator said, “It seems as though the government is doing everything in their power to squander Pakistan’s potential to become self-sufficient and pursue sustainable, economic development. People in this country cannot afford 2 square meals due to skyrocketing inflation and trade deficit that is fuelling the Rupee slide.”

She concluded by saying, “During PPP’s government, we had a trade surplus in terms of food of $285.6 million, our policies ensured the betterment for the most vulnerable in society and to ensure that people can afford basic needs such as food, fuel and medicine. This government has proved itself to be governing only for the sake of media attention; no matter how many Sehat cards and Ehsas cards are announced, the truth is that the economy has been wilfully put on the ventilator by this government and it is the poor who have to bear the brunt of their incompetence.”