Pakistani exports registered growth of 15.28% in the first 10 months of the fiscal year (July-April) to reach $11.529 billion compared with $10.001 billion for the same period in 2004. It seems that the country is now set to reach $14 billion target set for the current fiscal year. April’s exports alone registered an increase of 18.79% at $1.301 billion, compared with $1.095 billion during the same period the last year.

However, despite this positive news, Pakistan's total trade deficit rose by 141.52% in the same 10 months. Official figures released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) showed that the trade deficit stood at $4.842 billion during the 10 months versus $2.005 billion in the same period the last year.

Monthly statistics showed that the deficit increased by 45.71% to $601 5 million in April 2005 on a year-on-year basis, however, compared with the previous month, March, the deficit actually declined by 23.49%

The rise in the deficit has been attributed to an increase in imports of machinery, particularly textile machinery.

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