ISLAMABAD: The import of petroleum imports into the country witnessed a decrease of 39.29pc in March 2020, when compared with the previous month.
According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the country’s import bill stood at $668.329 million in March as compared to $1.1 billion in February 2020.
On a year-on-year basis, the petroleum group imports during the month under review declined by 32.86pc, as compared to the import of $995.851 in March 2019.
Meanwhile, the overall petroleum group imports during the first three quarters (July-March) of the current fiscal year (FY20) decreased by 16.14pc as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
The import bill during July-March 2019-20 was recorded at $8,900.631 million as against the bill of $10,614.003 million during July-March (2018-19).
During the period under review, petroleum commodities that witnessed a negative growth in trade included petroleum products, the imports of which went down by 14.24pc, from $4,622.978 million last year to $3,964.662 million during the current year.
Likewise, crude petroleum imports decreased 27.42pc, from $3,379.041 million last year to $2,452.599 million, while natural gas (liquefied) imports fell by 6.96pc, from $2,404.624 million last year to $2,237.253 million this year.
However, petroleum gas (liquefied) imports increased by 18.72pc, from $207.145 million to $245.915 million. The import of all other petroleum group products reduced by 6.05pc, from $0.215 million to $0.202 million.
It is pertinent to mention that the country’s overall trade deficit witnessed a significant reduction in 3QFY20, as it declined by 26.45pc as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
During the period under review, the country’s exports registered about 2.23pc growth, whereas imports reduced by 14.42pc.
