Gold imports fall by 48.10 percent in 3 quarters

ISLAMABAD: The gold imports decreased by 48.10 percent during the first three quarters of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

The gold imports during July-March (2020-21) were recorded at $5.947 million as compared to the imports of $11.459 million during July-March (2019-20), the data revealed.

In terms of quantity, Pakistan imported just 98 kilograms of gold during the period under review as compared to the imports of 272 kilograms last year, showing a decline of 63.97 percent.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the gold imports witnessed an increase of 135.69 percent during the month of March 2021 as compared to the imports of March 2020. The gold imports during March 2021 were recorded at $0.634 million against the imports of $0.269 million in March 2020.

In terms of quantity, the gold imports increased by 120 percent from 5 kilograms during March 2020 to imports of just 11 kilograms in March 2021.

On month-on-month basis, the gold imports during March 2021 increased by 9.12 percent as compared to the imports of $0.581 million in February 2021 while in terms of quantity, the imports increased by 10 percent in March 2021 when compared to the imports of 10 kilogram in February 2021.

It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s merchandize imports during the first three quarters increased by 13.57 percent by growing from $34.791 billion last year to $39.512 billion during current fiscal year.

On the other hand, the exports also increased by 7.12 percent, to $18.685 billion against the exports of $17.443 billion last year.

Based on the figures, the country’s trade deficit increased by 20.05 percent during the first three quarters as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The trade deficit during the period was recorded at $20.827 billion against the deficit of $17.348 billion last year, according to the PBS data.