ISLAMABAD  -  Pakistan’s food import bill re­duced by 23.25 percent in the first four months (July to Octo­ber) of the current fiscal year.

The country imported food commodities worth $2.6 billion in July to October period of the year 2023-24 as against $3.4 billion in the same period of the previous year, showing a decline of 23.25 percent, according to the latest data of Pakistan Bu­reau of Statistics (PBS). In the food group, the PBS data showed that the government has spent $964.3 million on import of palm oil, which is 31.45 percent less than the import of $1.41 billion in the same period of the previ­ous year. The government has imported pulses worth $321.14 million in July to October 2023-24 as compared to $348.5 mil­lion in the same period of last year, showing an increase of 7.86 percent. Meanwhile, the govern­ment has imported sugar worth $1.198 million in the period un­der review, showing a decrease of 46.37 percent. However, the soybean imports have declined. The country has spent $223.9 million on importing tea, which is 16.35 percent higher than the import of previous year.

Petroleum group imports recorded a negative growth of 16.93 percent during the first four months (July-October) of the current fiscal year. Oil im­ports stood at $5.029 billion when compared to $6.054 bil­lion during the same period of last fiscal year. Petroleum group imports have increased by 28.54 percent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis and stood at $1.527 billion in October 2023 when compared to $1.188 bil­lion during October 2022.

On a month-on-month ba­sis, it registered 14.76 percent growth when compared to $1.330 million in September 2023. Petroleum products im­ports witnessed 23.99 percent negative growth during July-October 2023-24 and remained at $2.161 billion compared to $2.844 billion during the same period of last fiscal year. The data showed that machinery group imports recorded 5.68 percent growth during the first four months of the current fis­cal year and remained at $2.35 billion as compared to $2.25 billion during the same period of last fiscal year. Power genera­tion machinery registered 28.56 percent negative growth during the first four months of the cur­rent fiscal year and remained at $132.8 million compared to $185.9 million during the same period of the last fiscal year.

Transport group imports witnessed 36.88 percent nega­tive growth during the period under review. It remained at $505.9 million as compared to $801.5 billion during the same period of last fiscal year. Accord­ing to the latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the country’s trade deficit has nar­rowed by 34.7 per cent during the July-October period of the current fiscal year. The trade imbalance, gap between exports and imports, was recorded at $7.4 billion as against $11.4 billion during the same period of last fiscal year. Pakistan’s ex­ports have enhanced by 0.66 per cent to $9.61 billion during July-October of the year 2023-24 as compared to $9.55 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. Meanwhile, imports declined by 18.54 percent to $17.033 billion during the first four months of the current fiscal year as compared with $20.9 billion in the same pe­riod of the last fiscal year.