Lahore: Pakistan is experiencing a significant decline in export revenue, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars monthly. This downturn is not attributed to external factors like foreign tariff wars or global trade conflicts but rather to uncertainties within its own policy framework.

According to Lahore School of Economics, a new study by economists Azam Chaudhry and Gul Andaman highlights the impact of domestic policy uncertainty on trade. The study reveals that Pakistan's trade policy uncertainty index reached alarming levels due to internal decisions. During the U.S.-China tariff war in 2018 and 2019, the index peaked at 185 against a baseline of 100. However, the passage of Pakistan's Finance Act of 2024 saw this index soar to 348, nearly doubling the previous peak during an international trade conflict. By 2025, the index had escalated to three and a half times its historical average, underscoring the severity of the domestic policy-induced uncertainty on the country's export sector.