Plastic Imports decrease by 4pc in 11 months: PBS

ISLAMABAD: The imports of plastic materials into the country during first eleven months of fiscal year 2018-19  decreased by 4.15 percent as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Pakistan imported plastic material worth $2066.463 million during July-May (2018-19) compared to the imports of $2155.962 million during July-May (2017-18), showing negative growth of 4.15 percent, according to latest data issued by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

In terms of quantity, Pakistan imported 1469.145 metric tons of plastic materials during the period under review compared to the imports of 1398.526 metric tons during corresponding period of last year, showing an increase of 5.05 percent in term of quantity.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the plastic imports however witnessed negative growth of 2.39 percent in May 2019 when compared to the imports of the same month of last year.

The plastic material imports during May 2019 were recorded at $ 215.262 million against the imports of $ 220.544 million in May 2018.

On month-on-month basis, the plastic material imports witnessed negative growth of 3.61 percent during the May 2019 when compared to the imports of $ 223.328 million in April 2019, the PBS data revealed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the country's overall merchandize trade deficit plunged by 13.62 per cent during the first eleven months of fiscal year 2018-19 compared to the corresponding period of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

The trade deficit contracted by 13.62 per cent to $29.207 billion during the period against the deficit of $33.812 billion recorded during last year.

The exports during the period under review witnessed nominal decrease of 0.3% by falling from $21.330 billion during last year to $21.267 billion.

On the other hand, the imports declined by 8.47 per cent to $50.474 billion during the period under review from $55.142 billion last year, the data revealed.

On year-on-year basis, the exports declined by 1.72 per cent, from $2.139 billion in May 2018 to $2.102 billion in May 2019 while the imports declined by 12.8 per cent from $5.782 billion in May 2018 to $5.042 billion in May 2019, the data revealed.