ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s oil and eatable import bill surged by 61.44 per cent to $28.14 billion in the July-April period compared to $17.43bn in the corresponding period last year owing to higher international prices and massive depreciation of the rupee.

The country’s overall import bill increased by 44.51pc to $72.29bn in 10MFY22 against $50.02bn in the corresponding period last year.

The share of these products in the total import bill also rose to 39pc in 10MFY22. The steady increase in import bill of these two sectors are triggering a trade deficit and pose a threat of exerting pressure on the external side of the government.

Data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics showed that the import bill of oil increased by over 99.14pc to $19.69bn in 10MFY22 from $9.88bn over the corresponding months of last year. Also, the unprecedented increase in prices of petroleum products for domestic users was seen during the period.

Further breakup showed that the import of petroleum products went up by 126.17pc in value and 26.31pc in quantity. Crude oil imports rose by 74.70pc in value and 2pc in quantity during the period under review while those of liquefied natural gas increased by 86.29pc in value. Liquefied petroleum gas imports jumped by 43.50pc in value in 10MFY22. The food import bill rose by over 11.93pc to $8.45bn in 10MFY22 from $7.55bn 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 source of worry for the government. Pakistan spent over $8bn on the import of edible items in the last fiscal year.

The import bill will go up further in the coming months because the government has decided to import 0.6m tonnes of sugar and 4m tonnes of wheat to build strategic reserves.

Within the food group, the major contribution came from wheat, sugar, edible oil, spices, tea and pulses. Edible oil imports witnessed a substantial increase in both quantity and value terms. Due to rising world prices, the palm oil import bill grew by 42.08pc in value in 10MFY22 to $3.406bn from $2.39bn in 10MFY21.

As a result, the domestic prices of vegetable ghee and cooking oil also went up. The import of soyabean oil increased by 111.90pc in value and 18.25pc in quantity in 10MFY22 from a year ago.

The import of sugar rose 49.33pc to 312,125 tonnes in 10MFY22 against 280,820 tonnes in 10MFY21. The import bill of pulses, tea, and spi­ces also grew rapidly during the period under review.

Published in Dawn,June 17th, 2022