ISLAMABAD: The country’s imports during July-April (2021-22) totalled $65.537 billion as against $44.731 billion during the corresponding period of last year showing an increase of 46.51 percent, says Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The exports and imports data released by the PBS revealed that the imports in April were $6.679 billion as compared to $6.407 billion in March 2022 showing an increase of 4.25 percent and by 27.41 percent as compared to $5.242 billion in April 2021.

The country’s overall exports during July-April (2021- 22) totalled $26.247 billion against $20.905 billion during the corresponding period of last year showing an increase of 25.55 percent.

The country’s exports during April 2022 were $2.897 billion as compared to $2.777 billion in March 2022, showing an increase of 4.32 percent and by 30.61 percent as compared to $2.218 billion in April 2021.

Textile group exports during July-April, 2021- 2022 totalled $15.981 billion against $12.688 billion during the corresponding period of last year showing an increase of 25.96 per cent. The textile group exports increased by 7.01 per cent on a month-on-month basis and remained at $1.739 billion in April 2022 compared to $1.625 billion in March 2022. On a year-on-year basis, textile group exports witnessed 30.50 per cent growth in April 2022, when compared to $1.332 billion in April 2021.

Jul-Apr trade deficit widens 64.79pc to $39.264bn YoY

Cotton yarn exports registered a growth of 22.11 per cent during July-April 2021-22 and remained at $1.006 billion compared to $823.952 million during the same period of last year, and decreased by 4.95 per cent in April 2022 and remained at $97.655 million when compared to $102.736 million during the same month of last year.

Petroleum group imports witnessed an increase of 95.84 per cent growth as they reached $17.033 billion in July-April 2021-22 compared to $8.697 billion during the same period of the last fiscal year and registered 19.44 per cent growth in April 2022 and remained $2.223 billion when compared to $1.861 billion in March 2022 and registered 94.38 per cent growth on a year-on-year basis in April 2022 when compared to $1.143 billion during the same month of last year.

Construction and mining machinery imports witnessed a growth of 33.19 per cent during July-April 2021-22 and remained at $151.852 million compared to $114.012 million during July-April 2020-21.

The country’s trade deficit widened by 64.90 per cent from $23.826 billion in July-April 2020-21 to $39.290 billion in July-April 2021-22.

The main commodities of exports during April, 2022 were knitwear (Rs90,096 million), readymade garments (Rs64,669 million), bed wear (Rs51,398 million), cotton cloth (Rs38,763 million), rice others (Rs32,704 million), towels (Rs19,974 million), cotton yarn (Rs18,016 million), madeup articles (excluding towels and bedwear) (Rs15,277 million), rice basmati (Rs15,198 million) and surgical goods and medical instruments(Rs8,067 million).

Main commodities of imports during April 2022 were petroleum products (Rs232,765 million), petroleum crude (Rs98,427 million), natural gas liquefied (Rs71,072 million), palm oil (Rs67,840 million), plastic materials (Rs51,678 million), mobile phone (Rs39,460 million), raw cotton (Rs38,533 million), iron and steel (Rs35,157 million), iron and steel scrap (Rs32,751 million), and electrical machinery and apparatus (Rs28,572 million).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022