While the role of stellar remittance inflows has been roundly acknowledged in providing stability to the external account in a challenging time, what has largely gone unnoticed is the small-but-significant contribution from Pakistan’s services trade. This piece attempts to highlight that aspect and hopefully give some food for policymaker’s thought when it comes to making Pakistan trade-resilient in the future.
In the twelve months of the pandemic so far (March 2020 to February 2021), calculations based on central bank data show that Pakistan’s services deficit (services exports less services imports) stood at $1.9 billion, compared to $4.1 billion of deficit in the prior period (March 2019 to February 2020). This lower deficit…
