The exports from the country witnessed nominal growth of 0.25 percent during the first seven months of the current fiscal year as against the corresponding period of last year.

Exports from the country during July-January (2011-12) stood at $13.155 billion against the exports of $13.122 billion during July-January (2010-11), according to figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) here on Tuesday.

On the other hand, the imports into the country increased by 16.77 percent during the period under review.

The imports increased from $22.546 billion last year to $26.327 billion during the current year, the data revealed.

Based on the figures, the trade deficit during the period stood at $13.172 billion against the deficit of $9.424 billion last year, showing an increase of 39.77 percent.

During the month of January 2012, the exports from the country increased by 5.34 percent to reach at $1.953 billion as against the exports of $1.854 billion in December 2011.

However, imports during January 2012 were recorded at $3.649 billion against the imports of $4.261 billion in December 2011, showing a negative growth of 14.36 percent, the PBS data revealed.

The trade deficit during January 2012 was recorded at $1.696 billion against the deficit of $2.407 billion in December 2011, showing decrease of 29.54 percent.

Exports during January 2012, however, decreased by 15.34 percent when compared to $2.307 billion exports of January 2011.

The imports into the country during January 2012 reached to $3.649 billion, showing 5.95 percent growth over the imports of January 2011, according to the data

Meanwhile, the exports of services during July-December (2011- 12) witnessed negative growth of 21.99 percent over the same period of last year.

The services exports during the first half of the current fiscal year stood at $2.586 billion against the service exports of $3.315 billion during July-December (2010-11).

The imports into the country during the period increased up to $3.890 billion from the imports of $3.664 billion during last year, showing an increase of 6.17 percent.

Based on the figures, the services' trade deficit during the first six months stood at $1.304 billion against the deficit of $349 million last year, showing an increase of over 273 percent, the data revealed.