ISLAMABAD: The country’s food imports dropped by 9.85pc to $4.7 billion in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, as compared to the imports of $5.216 billion recorded during the same period of FY2017-18.
According to details, that import of palm oil witnessed a sharp decrease of 10.99pc during July-April 2018-19, as it went down to $1.54 billion from $1.73 billion in July-April 2017-18.
Similarly, import of pulses also fell to $432.54 million in the corresponding period of the current fiscal year, as against the import worth of $442.7 million in the same period of last year, showing a decrease of 2.3pc.
According to trade data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Monday, the tea import recorded a nominal increase of 0.61pc, as the country imported $495.957 million worth of tea during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year as compared to the import of $492.966 million in the corresponding period of last year.
The import of milk, cream and milk food also witnessed a decline of 10pc to $199 million from $221.26 million in the same period of last year, whereas the import of dry fruits and nuts also plunged to $37.89 million in July-April 2018-19 against the import worth of $97.1 million in the same period of the preceding year.
Spices’ import during the period under review stood at $129.3 million, as against $136.8 million worth of import during the same period of last year, showing a decrease of 5.5pc.
Likewise, the import of soybean oil also declined sharply by 34.3pc to $79.12 million from $120.4 million, while the import of sugar decreased by 25.46pc to $3.24 million as compared to the import worth of $4.35 million in July-April 2017-18.
The import of other miscellaneous food commodities went down by 9.41pc to $1.786 billion in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year as compared to the import of $1.97 billion in the same period of last year.
On a yearly basis, the import of food commodities and products dropped to $441.088 million in April 2019 as compared to $485.86 million in the same month last year, showing a decrease of 9.22pc. On a monthly basis, imports grew by 12.3pc as they were recorded at $392.824 million.
