Trade in Times of Crises-Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 on Balance of Trade in Pakistan

This research explores the manner in which current COVID-19 pandemic has affected trade activities in Pakistan. It is assumed that trade activities are highly susceptible to such a great disturbance affecting worldwide. This article investigates this conjecture by scrutinising the real time data source of imports and exports. Finding suggests that initially, trade in Pakistan has been suppressed since the onset of COVID-19 crises, but it appears that activities have been restored as the stakeholders have taken COVID-19 as a new normal. Export was the key variable, which was a cause of concern for government as the country is export dependent, there was approximately 28% decline in the second quarter (Apr-Jun) of 2020 compared to the previous year same period. Policy makers can use these real time data sources to help and inform their strategic policy intervention to assist the affected ones.