ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's trade deficit for the first seven months (July-January) of the current fiscal year 2020-21 increased by 8.25 percent to $14.96 billion compared to a $13.82 billion in the corresponding period of the last financial year 2019-20. According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the trade deficit for the month of January 2021 was recorded at $2.601 billion compared to a deficit of $2.639 billion from December 2020 showing an improvement of 1.44 percent. Compared to January 2020 deficit of $2.149 billion, the trade numbers deteriorated by 21.03 percent Exports decreased by 9.89 percent to $2.132 billion compared to $2.366 billion in December 2020. However, compared to January 2020, exports increased by 8.11 percent. Imports in January 2021 decreased by 5.43 percent, clocking in at $4.733 billion compared to $5.005 billion in December 2020 while they increased by 14.85 percent when compared to January 2020. Overall, the 7-month exports stood at $14.242 billion compared to $13.496 from the corresponding period of the last year, showing a decrease of 5.53 percent. Similarly imports during the period increased by 6.92 percent to USD 29.205 billion compared to USD 27.316 from the same period of FY20. - TLTP