Pakistan's trade gap with Gulf partners narrows

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit with Gulf partner countries narrowed 26.35 per cent to $2.85bn in the first quarter of 2026-27 against $3.87bn a year earlier, largely due to lower imports and moderately higher exports. The steepest declines were 97.46pc and 72.51pc in import payments to Kuwait and Qatar. These two countries accounted for $947.923 million of the gross decline in import payments, partly offset by the substantial increase in imports from Oman. On the export side, the UAE accounted for approximately 66.21pc of Pakistan’s total exports to the seven countries in 1QFY27,…