POL import bill dips 17pc to $5.6bn in 11 months

ISLAMABAD: The imports of petroleum products into the country during first eleven months of fiscal year 2018-19 decrease by 17.05 percent as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Pakistan imported petroleum products worth $5647.576 million during July-May (2018-19) compared to the imports of $6808.334 million during July-May (2017-18), showing negative growth of 17.05 percent, according to latest data issued by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

In terms of quantity, Pakistan imported 9333.585 metric tons of petroleum products during the period under review compared to the imports of 13897.190 metric tons during corresponding period of last year, showing an decrease of 32.84 percent in term of quantity.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the petroleum products witnessed negative growth of 37.11 percent in May 2019 when compared to the imports of the same month of last year.

The petroleum products imports during May 2019 were recorded at $503.122 million against the imports of $ 799.945 million in May 2018.

On month-on-month basis, the petroleum products’ imports witnessed negative growth of 3.52 percent during the May 2019 when compared to the imports of $ 521.476 million in April 2019, the PBS data revealed.

The overall petroleum group imports into the country however witnessed positive growth 1.60 percent during the first eleven months of fiscal year 2018-19 as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The total petroleum group imports into the country were recorded at $13135.119 million during the fiscal year 2018-19 against the imports of $12928.157 million during last year, the 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.