Pakistan’s Oil Import Bill Hits Record $20 Billion in 11 Months

Pakistan’s petroleum group imports witnessed a 99.14 percent growth as they reached $19.679 billion in July-May 2021-22 compared to $9.882 billion during the same period of the last fiscal year, says Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The imports and exports data released by the Bureau noted that petroleum group imports registered 19 percent growth in May 2022 and stood at $2.645 billion when compared to $2.223 billion in April 2022 and registered 123 percent growth on a year-on-year basis in May 2022 when compared to $1.184 billion during the same month of last year. The country’s overall imports during July-May (2021-22) stood at $72.297 billion as against $50.028 billion during the corresponding period of last year showing an increase of 44.51 percent, says Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The imports in May 2022 stood at $6.777 billion as compared to $6.661 billion in April 2022 showing an increase of 1.74 percent and an increase of 27.94 percent as compared to $5.297 billion in May 2021. Construction and mining machinery imports witnessed a growth of 29.57 percent during July-May 2021-22 and stood at $162.093 million compared to $125.102 million during July-May 2020-21. The country’s trade deficit widened by 58.18 percent from $27.452 billion in July-May 2020-21 to $43.424 billion in July-May 2021-22. Main commodities of imports during May, 2022 were petroleum products (Rs. 288,039 million), natural gas liquified (Rs. 114,160 million), petroleum crude (Rs. 105,310 million), palm oil (Rs. 60,163 million), plastic materials (Rs. 46,553 million), iron & steel (Rs. 46,223 million), raw cotton (Rs. 46,154 million), motor cars (ckd/skd), Rs. 30,943 million), electrical machinery & apparatus (Rs. 29,210 million) and mobile phones (Rs. 26,825 million).