The trade deficit has contracted by 29pc in the first month of this fiscal year, with the government claiming this fall represents their move to curtail all non-essential luxury items.

The trade deficit decreased 28.84pc to $2.27 billion in July, from $3.19 billion over the corresponding month of last year.

The government has projected to reduce the annual trade gap to $27.476 billion by June 2020.

There had also been a steep fall in the previous fiscal year 2018-19, with the deficit falling to $31.82 billion from $37.58 billion (FY18), posting a decline of 15.33pc. While the exports in the last fiscal had given mixed numbers as they have this year, the contraction was achieved through a general shrinking of the import bill.

The decline in imports is mainly due to the imposition of regulatory duties on luxury items and automobiles.

Moreover, a ban on import of furnace oil was also placed by the government last year, in addition to a number of other policy interventions.