compared to imports for the same period worth Rs100.55 billion (about $HK44.7 billion).
The quantity of exports, however, represents an increase of 23 percent compared to the previous year, whereas imports increased 11 percent.
In an effort to try and speed up the balancing of imports against exports, the Pakistan Government ‘de-linked' the rupee from the US dollar.
The rupee and the US dollar were 'de-linked' on January 8, 1981. The value of the rupee, vis-a-vis the US dollar, declined from Rs9.90 = $US1 to Rs16.88 $US1. The current rate is about Rs17.46 = $US1.
The 2 prime objectives behind the de-linking were, firstly, to boost exports with a cheaper rupee and, secondly, to cut imports by making them more expensive.
Pakistan's trade deficit for the period 1987/1988, ending March, stood at $US1.286 billion (about $HK10 billion) and the current operative trade policy covering the 3-year period from 1987 to 1990 is aiming to reduce the trade deficit to only $US1 billion (about $HK7.8 billion) by 1989/1990.
It is hoped that exports will be able to finance 85 percent of total imports during that year.
Machinery and transport equipment account for the lion's share of imports, closely followed by petroleum and related products.
In the fiscal year 1986/1987, Machinery and transport equipment accounted for 26.4 percent of total imports, and petroleum and related produces accounted for 15 percent.
As Pakistan continues to produce more of its own petro- leum, the amount imported is decreasing yearly - in the previous fiscal year, petroleum and related products ac- counted for about 21.4 percent of imports.
But energy shortages in Pakistan are daunting.
At 38,000 barrels of oil per day, production in 1986/1987 was twice that of 2 years before, but the increased domestic production still only met about 32 percent of crude oil requirements.
Pakistan's total demand of crude oil is about 120,000 barrels per day, and this has lead to rocketing energy costs.
Foreign Investment
The Pakistan Government's policy towards foreign in- vestments is fairly liberal. The Foreign Private Investment Ordinance of February 1976 guarantees that no foreign investment will be nationalized without adequate compensa- tion in the currency of the original investment.
The Industrial Policy Statement of June 1984 opposed
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