POL import bill decreases by 1.53 percent

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POL import bill decreases by 1.53 percent

ISLAMABAD, MAY 20 (DNA) — The imports of the overall petroleum group decreased by 1.53 percent during the first ten months of the current fiscal year (2023-24) 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-April (2023-24) stood at $13,761.071 million, as against the imports of $13,974.609 million during the same period of last year, according to PBS data.

Among petroleum commodities, the import of petroleum products declined by 14.09 percent, from $6,149.116 million last year to $5,283.001 million during the time period under review.

However, the imports of petroleum crude increased by 10.40 percent, from $4,137.725 million to $4,567.954; natural gas liquefied by 4.56 percent, from $3,110.837 to $3,252.812 whereas the imports of petroleum gas liquefied went up by 13.96 percent and reached to $657.132 million as compared to $576.619 last year.

The imports of all other petroleum group products decreased by 45 percent and went down to $0.172 million from $0.312 million.  Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, the petroleum group imports witnessed an increase of 88.09 percent during the month of April 2024 as compared to the same months of last year.

The petroleum imports during April 2024 were recorded as $1,676.755 million against the imports of $891.468 million during April 2023. On a month-on-month basis, the petroleum imports into the country also increased by 11.34 percent during April 2024, as compared to the imports of $1,506.004 million in March 2024, said the data.

It is pertinent to mention here that the overall trade deficit during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year was recorded at $19.514 billion against the deficit of $23.535 billion last year, showing a decline of 17.09 percent.

According to PBS data, overall exports from the country witnessed an increase of 9.10 percent during the first ten months of the current fiscal year (2023-24) as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The exports during July-April (2023-24) were recorded at $25.280 billion against the exports of $23.171 billion. — DNA