LAHORE: Pakistan’s oil, food and transport import bill amounted to $16.2 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, witnessing a 29 per cent increase Year on Year (YoY) due to higher grain and crude global prices, reported a local news outlet.
The $16.2 billion spent on these three categories amounts to one-third of the total merchandise imports in the period under review.
During the July-February period, total petroleum imports increased, 34.9 per cent YoY to $9.02 billion according to official data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
Import of crude oil grew 58.3 per cent YoY to $2.5 billion, however quantity imported only grew by 28.8 per cent, indicating an increase in the price of imports.
Petroleum products also recorded 17.2 per cent increase to $4.9 billion during the period under review with the import of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) surging 87.1 per cent YoY to $1.4 billion.
Food- the second biggest contributor to the import bill- rose 6.3 per cent YoY to $4.3 billion mainly due to increased palm oil import valuing $1.4 billion, up 13.5 per cent YoY.
Within the food category, import of tea, milk products, soyabean oil, spices and sugar increased by 10.2 per cent, 1.5 per cent, 84.6 per cent, 19.6 per cent and 6.2 per cent in value respectively.
Similarly, transport- the third biggest contributor to the import bill- increased by 46.6 per cent to $2.9 billion in the July-February period.
