The country's overall trade deficit widened by more than 105 per cent in the first seven months of the current fiscal (FY) 2014-15 due to higher import payments than export receipts, officials said.
The deficit rose to $5.72 billion during the July-January period of FY '15 from $2.79 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics, released on Thursday.
"The overall import increased significantly during the period under review mainly due to higher imports of capital machinery," a BB senior official told the FE.
He also said import payment pressures may fall in the coming months if the ongoing political turmoil continues.
The imports grew by 16.43 per cent to $23.31 billion during the period under review from $20.02 billion in the corresponding period of the FY '14.
On the other hand, the country's export earnings grew by 2.07 per cent to $17.58 billion in seven months against $17.23 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the BB data showed.
Besides, deficit in trade in services increased during the period under review. Gap in services trade stood at $3.07 billion in the first seven months of the FY '15 which was $1.61 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
Trade in services includes tourism, financial service and insurance.
The country earned $1.80 billion in services trade during the period under review while payment on services surged to $4.87 billion from $3.55 billion in the same period of the FY '14.
"The higher trade deficit pushed down the current-account balance significantly despite uptrend in inward remittances as a prop to the balance," another BB official explained.
The remittance inflow increased 8.57 per cent to $8.66 billion in the first seven months of the FY '15 from $797 billion in the period of comparison.
However, the current account deficit came down slightly to $1.34 billion in the July-January period of the FY '15 from $1.40 billion a month ago.
It was $2.64 billion surplus during the July-January period of the last fiscal year, the BB data showed.
The balance of payments (BoP) came down to $1.71 billion during the period under review from $2.76 billion in the corresponding period of the FY '14.
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