Renowned economists explore the reasons behind Pakistan's rising trade deficit

December 2, 2021: Dr. Aadil Nakhoda, Assistant Professor and Research Fellow at CBER, School of Economics and Social Sciences, organized a guest speaker session for the Development Economics II students. Mr. Gonzalo Varela, Senior Economist in the Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment Global Practice of the World Bank and Mr. Javed Hassan who is serving as Chairperson National Vocational & Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) and Economic Advisory Group (EAG) were invited as guest speakers.

The session revolved around the underlying reasons for Pakistan's trade deficit.

Mr. Gonzalo Varela conferred some of the leading factors of high trade deficit and he shed light on how increasing exports is more vital for the economy than simply reducing imports.

Furthermore, presenting the new Vision for Economic Transformation, Mr. Javed focused on how the lack of export sophistication of Pakistan has adversely impacted growth. He also discussed Pakistan's export profile and provided solutions to make the country's exports more competitive.