ISLAMABAD: Around $11 billion discrepancy found in Pakistan’s trade data as the Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited (PRAL) reported incomplete import data to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
PRAL, a subsidiary of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), reports customs data to PBS through FBR’s Directorate of Research and Statistics (DRS).
While the customs data covers various categories, including exporters’ schemes and goods declarations (GDs) for baggage, home consumption, and commercial imports, import data under trade facilitation schemes was not included in the reports submitted to PBS.
The officials as saying that certain GD categories created by Pakistan Customs for trade facilitation were excluded from the PBS data because tariff classifications and codes were not integrated into the PRAL system, resulting in under-reporting.
PBS officials stated they had assumed they were receiving complete import data from PRAL. They acknowledged that the lack of coordination between PBS and PRAL caused the discrepancy, which they described as unintentional.
They further pointed out that the absence of standardised data definitions between the two organisations contributed to missing import figures.
Earlier, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) clarified that its trade data remains unaffected by PBS revisions. An SBP spokesperson said that the central bank’s trade figures are primarily based on trade payments received from banks, meaning no major revisions are expected in the published current account balance.
The spokesperson added that only minor revisions may continue as per standard practice and emphasised that the circulating reports suggesting major revisions in SBP trade data are incorrect.
