PoL import bill shrinks by 8.11% to $7.7 bln in five months

Islamabad: The imports of the overall petroleum group declined by 8.11 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year (2022-23) as compared to the corresponding period of the last year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

The total imports of the petroleum group during July-November (2022-23) stood at $7,700.272 million, as against the imports of $8,379.847 million during the same period of last year, according to PBS data.

Among petroleum commodities, the import of petroleum products declined by 14.52 percent, from $4,155.917 million last year to $3,552.326 million during the period under review.

Likewise, the imports of liquified natural gas declined by 17.38 going down to $1,584.800 million this year against the imports of $1,918.188 million recorded during the corresponding period of last year.

On the other hand, the products that witnessed positive growth included petroleum crude, the imports of which grew by 10.55, from $2,056.288 million last year to $2,273.329 million whereas imports of liquified petroleum gas increased by 16.19 percent, from $249.309 million to $289.671 million.

The imports of all other petroleum products increased by 0.81 percent, from $ 0.145 million to $0.146 million.

Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, the petroleum group imports witnessed a decrease of 24.58 percent during the month of November 2022 as compared to the same month of last year.

The petroleum imports during November 2022 were recorded at $1,646,185 million against the imports of $2,182.562 million during November 2021.

On a month-on-month basis, the petroleum imports into the country increased by 38.56 percent during November 2022 when compared to the imports of $1,188.107 million October 2022, according to the data.

It is pertinent to mention here that during the first five months of the current fiscal year, the merchandize trade deficit witnessed a decline of 30.14 per cent and was recorded at $ 14,406 million this year against the deficit of $ 20,621 million last year.

According to PBS data, the exports from July-November (2022-23) were recorded at $11,932 million against the exports of $12,362 million in July-November (2021-22), showing decline of 3.48 percent.

On the other hand, the imports of the country decreased by 20.15 percent during the period under review by going down from $ 32,983 million last year to $ 26,338 million during the current year.

SOURCE: APP