Pakistan: Oil, eatable import bills surge by 60 per cent

Last year, in the corresponding period, the import bill surged to USD 13.67 billion owing to higher international prices and massive depreciation of the Pakistani Rupee, Dawn newspaper reported.

The country’s overall import bill spiked by 49.10 per cent to USD 58.87 billion in the nine months ending September 2021 (9MFY22) against the USD 39.48 billion in the same month last year.

The shares of these products in the total import bill also jumped to 37.14 per cent in 9MFY22. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data, the import bill of oil increased by over 96.09per cent to USD14.81 billion in 9MFY22 from USD 7.55 billion over the corresponding months of last year, reported Dawn newspaper.

The steady increase in import bills of these two sectors is triggering a trade deficit in the country and also poses a threat of creating pressure on the external side of the government.

Not only oil, but the Crude oil imports rose by 82.25 per cent in value and 3.50 per cent in quantity during the period under review while those of liquefied natural gas increased by 91.78 per cent in value, reported Dawn newspaper.

Liquefied petroleum gas imports also rose by 46.32pc in value in 9MFY22.

The food import bill rose by over 15.46pc to USD 7.06bn in 9MFY22 from USD 6.12bn over the corresponding period last year to bridge the gap in food production.

The rising food imports and the consequent trade deficit are yet another thing that is the main tension for the government. Pakistan spent over USD 8 billion on the import of edible items in the last fiscal year, reported Dawn newspaper.

According to the publication, the import bill will go up further in the coming months as the government decided to import 0.6m tonnes of sugar and 4m tonnes of wheat to build strategic reserves.

Due to rising world prices, especially after the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the palm oil import bill grew by 46.74 per cent in value in 9MFY22 to USD 2.73 billion from USD 1.86 billion in 9MFY21. The prices of vegetable ghee and cooking oil also went up.

On one hand, the prices of food items are increasing while on other hand the number of imports of products is fluctuating, reported Dawn newspaper.

The import of soyabean oil hiked by 113.7 per cent in value and 6.98 per cent in quantity in 9MFY22 from a year ago. However, the wheat imports fell by 38.91 per cent to 2.206m tonnes in 9MFY22 against 3.61 million tonnes in 9MFY21.

The import of sugar also rose. It rose by 11.24pc to 311,031 tonnes in 9MFY22 against 279,604 tonnes in 9MFY21. The import bill of pulses, tea, and spices also grew rapidly during the period under review, reported Dawn newspaper.