Peshawar – The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has expressed grave concern over the widening trade deficit, which increased by approximately 20 percent to around $32 billion during the first ten months of FY2025-26, posing serious risk to the country’s external account stability and foreign exchange reserves.

Trade deficit is the elephant in the room nobody in government wants to address with any seriousness.
The business community has been raising this concern for years. Import-heavy economy needs structural reform.
SCCI represents real businesses on the ground. The government should listen to their concerns carefully.
Widening deficit means more borrowing. This unsustainable cycle has to break somewhere unfortunately.