Petroleum group imports shrinks by 21.7pc in 8 months

ISLAMABAD: The country’s petroleum group import bill witnessed reduction of 21.70 percent during the first eight months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The country imported petroleum group worth US $6445.601 million during July-February (2020-21) against the imports of US $ 8232.294 million during July-February (2019-20), showing decline of 21.70 percent, according to latest data by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The commodities that contributed in decline of oil import bill included, petroleum products, the imports of which decreased by 20.71 percent, from US $ 3641.111 million last year to US $ 2886.999 million during the current fiscal year.

Likewise, the imports of petroleum cured decreased from US $ 2315.597 million to US $ 1753.918 million, a decline of 24.26 percent while the imports of natural gas (liquefied) went down by 27.17 percent, from $2059.276 million to US $ 1499.790 million.

On the other hand, the imports of petroleum gas (liquefied) increased from US $ 216.113 million to US $ 304.789 million, showing growth of 41.03 percent while the imports of all other oil products decreased by 46.70 percent, from US $ 0.197 million to 0.105 million.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the oil import bill shrunk by 26.89 percent to US $ 224.550 million in February 2021 when compared to the imports of US $ 209.195 million in February 2020, the data revealed.

However, the imports during January 2021 witnessed an increase of 0.64 percent when compared to the imports of US $ 223.117 million in January 2021.

It is pertinent to mention here that the overall merchandize exports from the country increased by 4.29 percent during the first eight months of the current fiscal year (2020-21) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The exports of the country during July-February (2020-21) were recorded at US $ 16.304 billion against the exports of $15.633 billion during July-February (2019-20), according to the latest PBS data.

The imports during the period under review also increased by 7.49 percent by growing from US $ 31.483 billion last year to $33.840 billion during the first eight months of current fiscal year.

Based on the figures, the country’s trade deficit increased by 10.64 percent during the first eight months as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The trade deficit during the period was recorded at $17.536 billion against the deficit of US $ 15.850 billion last year.