THE trend is unmistakable. The sharp fall of 20.4pc in Pakistan’s export shipments last month underscores that the slump stems from structural factors and should no longer be dismissed as a temporary setback. Trade data shows that December marks the fifth consecutive monthly export decline — and the sharpest one — in the first half of the present fiscal. The sustained export contraction heightens the risks to the nation’s external sector recovery as growing imports threaten to erode the gains achieved through demand compression over the past two years. Imports crossing the $6bn mark last month for the first time........

© Dawn