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Service exports slump 21pc

The Newspaper's Staff Reporter Published Apr 15, 2016 06:49am

ISLAMABAD: Service exports dropped 21 per cent to $3.428 billion in the first eight months (JulyFebruary) of this fiscal year from $4.316bn a year earlier, mainly driven by a fall in exports of
government services.
The service sector has emerged as a major driver of economic growth, with its share in GDP
increasing from 56pc in FY06 to 57.7pc in FY15.
The major sub-sectors include finance and insurance, transport and storage, wholesale and retail
trade, public administration and defence.
Pakistan has opened up its market to foreign service providers, particularly in banking, insurance,
telecommunications and retail.
On the other hand, service imports fell 15pc to $4.891bn in July-February FY16 from $5.769bn a
year ago.
The services whose imports decreased were related to the sectors of transportation, travel,
communications, insurance, finance, computer and information, and other business services.
Trade deficit in services increased slightly by 0.66pc year-on-year to $1.462bn during the eightmonth period from $1.453bn.
While share of the service sector in the domestic GDP posted a substantial increase, Pakistans
share in global service trade stood at 0.06pc in 2015.
Experts attribute the low share in global trade to the fact that most services offered by Pakistan
are non-tradable.
They also cite a number of barriers to trade in services, including regulatory barriers,
discriminatory requirements, economic need tests, non-national treatment, non-MFN (mostfavoured nation) treatment, imperfect market structure and prudential supervision.
Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2016
SERVICE: The growth by 5.7pc of the services sector will be contributed by 5.1pc in transportation,
communication and storage, 5.5pc in wholesale and retail trade, 7.2pc in finance and insurance,
4pc in housing, 7pc in the general government services and 6.7pc in other private services sector.
With continuous improvement in the law and order situation and development of basic
infrastructure, the tourism industry of Pakistan will gain momentum and generate socio-economic
remunerations.
Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2016

Overview of the Economy (2015-16)


June 2, 2016

Services sector also met the planned target and has emerged as the most significant driver of
economic growth and contributing a major role in augmenting and sustaining economic growth in the
country. The share of the services sector has increased from 56.6 percent of GDP FY 2009 to 59.16
percent in FY 2016.
Services sector has witnessed a growth of 5.71 percent in this fiscal year as compared to 4.31 percent
last year. Services sector performance remained broad based, as all components of services
contributed positively, as Wholesale and Retail Trade grew by 4.57 percent, Transport, Storage and
Communication by 4.06 percent, Finance and Insurance by 7.84 percent, Housing Services by 3.99
percent, General Government Services by 11.13 percent and Other Private Services by6.64 percent.

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