ISLAMABAD, May 10: Surging crude oil and food prices in international markets pushed Pakistan’s trade deficit to $16.805 billion in the first 10 months of the current financial year, up by 50.78 per cent from $11.17 billion recorded last year.

The trade gap widened as the import of consumer items like wheat, edible oil and fertilisers witnessed a highest-ever increase. The import of luxury items like mobile phones and cars contributed significantly to the deficit.

The purchase of a jet for PIA last month also put an unusual burden on the import bill.

Otherwise, an official said, import of industrial raw materials and machinery had declined during the period under review. The period also saw the industrial output decline to four per cent.

Official figures released on Saturday by the Federal Bureau of Statistics showed that the import bill had increased by 28.28 per cent to $32.061 billion in July-April 2007-08, against $24.993 billion last year. It witnessed an alarming increase of 59.32 per cent last month. It stood at $4.099 billion against $2.573 billion during the same month last year.

Exports grew by 10.17 per cent to $15.255 billion in July-April 2007-08 against $13.847 billion last year. The export growth recorded the highest-ever increase of 23.09 per cent last month.

“We are close to our export growth target, which is 11.2 per cent,” Commerce Secretary Syed Asif Shah said. “Exports have been steadily growing during the last few years,” he added.

Analysts, however, said that export proceeds would barely reach $18.5 billion by the end of next month. The projected target is $19.2 billion.

With the rising import bill, economists believe, the trade deficit this year may reach $22 billion, the highest-ever increase recorded in the country’s history. Last year, the deficit for the whole year was $13 billion.

A big demand for dollar to import consumable items put a tremendous pressure on rupee, which witnessed an unprecedented depreciation during the past few weeks.

Finance Secretary Farukh Qayum said that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar would convene a meeting on Monday to review the economic situation and work out a strategy for controlling budget deficit.

“The minister will elaborate his efforts for seeking support from donors for balance of payment,” he said.

The inflows are expected to reach $3 billion, mitigating to some extent the stress on foreign exchange reserves.