The imports of the overall petroleum group contracted by 21.8 percent during the first eleven 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, Oil and Lubricants (POL) during July-May (2022-23) stood at $15,382.3million as against the imports of $19,679.5 million during the same period of last year, according to PBS data. Among petroleum commodities, the import of petroleum products declined by 32.7 percent, from $10,022.6 million last year to $6,748.2 million during the period under review. Likewise, the imports of liquefied natural gas declined by 19.1 percent and dropped from $4,289.9 million last year to $3,471.6 million this year whereas petroleum crude dipped by 5 percent from $4,759.9 million to $4,522.6 million. On the other hand, the products that witnessed positive growth included liquefied petroleum gas, the imports of which grew by 3.4 percent, from $606.9 million last year to $639.6 million whereas imports of all other petroleum products increased by 28.8 percent, from $0.2 million to $0.3 million. Meanwhile, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the petroleum group imports witnessed a decrease of 46.8 percent during the month of May 2023 as compared to the same months of last year.
The petroleum imports during April 2023 were recorded as $1,407.7 million against the imports of $2,645.9 million during May 2022. On a month-on-month basis, the petroleum imports into the country however increased by 57.9 percent during May 2023, as compared to the imports of $891.4 million in April 2023, said the data. It is pertinent to mention here that the overall trade deficit witnessed a decline of 40.6 percent during the first eleven months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The trade deficit during July-May (2022-23) was recorded at $25.8 billion against the deficit of $43.4 billion in July-May (2021-22), a decline of 40.6 percent. The exports during the period were recorded at $25.4 billion against $28.9 billion last year, showing a decline of 12.1 percent. On the other hand, the imports witnessed a sharp decline of 29.2 percent by falling from $72.3 billion last year to $51.2 billion during the current fiscal year, PBS reported.
Source: IBP