POL import bill surges 95% to $17 bln in 10 months

The imports of overall petroleum group witnessed an increase of 95.84 percent during the first ten months of the current fiscal year (2021-22) as compared to the corresponding period of the last year.

During the period under review, the total imports of the petroleum group stood at $17.033 billion, as against the imports of $8.697 billion last year, according to the latest data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Among petroleum commodities, the import of petroleum products rose by 121.15 percent, from $3.865 billion last year to $8.549 billion during the period under review.

The imports of petroleum cured also increased by 75.34 percent, from $2.407 billion last year to $4.221billion during July-April (2021-22) whereas the imports of liquefied natural gas surge by 82.90 percent from $2.026 billion to $3.705 billion.

Similarly, the import of liquefied petroleum gas grew by 39.86 percent, from $398.216 million to $556.962 million whereas the imports of all other petroleum group commodities increased by 33.43 percent, from $0.166 million to $0.221 million, the data revealed.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the petroleum group imports witnessed an increase 94.38 percent during the month of April 2022 as compared to the same month of last year.

The petroleum imports during April 2022 were recorded at $2223.517 million against the imports of $1143.906 million during April 2021.

On month-on-month basis, the petroleum imports into the country also increased by 19.44 percent during April 2022 when compared to the imports of $1861.556 million in March 2022, the data revealed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s total imports during July-April (2021-22) were recorded at $65.492 billion as compared to the imports of $44.731 billion during the same period of last year, showing growth of 46.41 percent.

The exports from the country witnessed an increase of 25.46 percent to $26.228 billion as compared to the exports of $20.905 billion last year.

Based on the data, the trade deficit during the period under review was recorded at $39.264 billion, showing an increase of 64.79 percent over the deficit of $23.826 billion recorded during July- April (2020-21).

The imports into the country increased from $5.242 billion in April 2021 to $6.615 billion in April 2022, showing growth of 26.19 percent

The exports during April 2022 were recorded at $2.873 billion against the exports of $2.218 billion in April 2021, the data revealed, a growth of 29.53 percent.