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10/09/2010  
 Headlines: Senate told Seven airports shut in country,     ISB: The Senate was informed Friday that seven airports in different cities have been closed due to suspension of PIA flights.     The PIA suspended the flights due to a daily loss of Rs19 million during last year.     Suprem Court orders arrest of Gilani’s ex-PRO,     ISB: SC has asked the FIA to arrest former media coordinator of the prime minister, Khurram Rasool.     Present him in the court on 24th January otherwise action would be taken against the Agency.     Khurram Rasool is accused of corruption of Rs530 million.     Musharraf denies delay in return,     LONDON/KARACHI: Former military ruler & chief of (APML) Pervez Musharraf has rejected reports about suspension of programme to return home.     he would be back in Pakistan according to the scheduled programme.     SBP injects Rs 242.5bn in market,     Trade thru dry port fetches Rs1bn tax,     India SC rejects army chief’s plea,     100 more engines by year-end: Bilour,
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www.thefinancialdaily.com



 2M trade gap widens 20pc



Deficit reaches $2.68bn; drops by 15pc in Aug MoM
Ahmed Siddique
KARACHI: Pakistan's trade deficit during July-August period of current fiscal year 2010-11, hiked by 20.18 per cent to $2.68 billion against $2.23 billion in the same month last year, according to the official data released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics here Thursday.
Exports were at $3.56 billion in the initial two months of the current fiscal year, against $2.92 billion in the same period last year, projecting an increase of 21.49 per cent.
Imports were considerably high by 20.93 per cent with $6.24 billion worth compared with $5.16 billion during the same period last year.
As per TFD analyst, import bill is on the surge mainly due to increase in global oil prices and food imports, compared with the identical period last year.
He further added that it is an alarming situation that once again monthly import bill stands above $3 billion after seeing a downward trend previously. The rupee will come under more pressure  if trade balance exceeds $1.1 billon/month, analyst added.
Similarly, comparison of trade data during August with the same period last year showed that there was about 16.17 per cent increase in trade deficit to $1.23 billion against $1.06 billion.
The deficit was enlarged due to considerable hike in imports bill (high base effect) of 19.06 per cent to $3.01 billion in August against $2.52 billion over the same month last year. Similarly, exports registered increase in growth of 21.16 per cent to $1.77 billion in above period.
Contrast of trade during August 2010 with the month of July 2010 showed flat performance of the export sector as the exports slightly decreased by 0.9 per cent in August 2010 with a trade of $1.77 billion as compared with $1.78 billion in July 2010. On the other hand imports in August 2010 witnessed a decline of 7.06 per cent with trade of $3.01 billion as against the imports of $3.23 billion in July 2010. Trade deficit also reduced by 14.66 per cent in August with a total of $1.23 billion as compared with deficit of $1.45 billion in July 2010.