Pakistan’s petroleum imports declined 27.84% in FY20 owing to a steep reduction in domestic demand as a result of lockdowns across the country.
It is estimated that petroleum consumption since March 22 has fallen significantly since the full lockdown was enforced and private transport came to a standstill.
Data compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed the total import bill of fuel group dipped by 27.84% year-on-year to $10.42bn.
Of these, petroleum product imports declined by 24.54% in value despite increasing by 3.7% in quantity.
Similarly, import of crude oil decreased 40.44% in value and 24.54% in quantity during the outgoing fiscal year while those of Liquefied Natural Gas fell by 20.21% in value, which would have translated into a relatively lower power production through this fuel.
On the other hand, liquefied petroleum gas imports jumped 17.63% in value in FY20, largely to plug a shortage in local production.
On a monthly basis, import of oil group plunged by over 53% in June to $613.130mn as against $1.306bn over the corresponding period last year.
The fall in imports of crude also translated into lower production of petroleum products by local refineries.
As a result, exports of petroleum products were down 42.74% year-on-year in July-June FY20.
Similarly, petroleum crude exports tumbled 34.88% in value while those of petroleum products (excluding top naptha) dipped 68.13%.
In addition, the export of petroleum top naphtha fell by 27.17% during the year.
The dip in local petroleum production and exports from the country has dragged down economic growth as the oil import bill also witnessed a double-digit decline.
Machinery imports dipped 1.56% to $8.782bn from $8.921bn last year led by a surge in electrical and telecom machinery.
The import of electrical machinery and apparatus posted growth of 26.41%. The import of power generating machinery up by 8.74% during the year under review.
In the telecommunication group, imports increased by 34.88% to $1.86bn in FY20, led by mobile handsets higher by 81.32% to $1.369bn from $755.548mn.
This surge was the result of a crackdown on smuggling and doing away with free imports in baggage schemes.
Import of other apparatus decreased by 31.36%.
However, the import of office machinery dropped by 12.88%, respectively.
Early harvest of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects and cut in the Public Sector Development Programme spending contributed to the low machinery import bill.
The overall transport group also witnessed negative growth.
The import of motor vehicle dropped by over 49.90% during July-June FY20.The agriculture machinery imports shrank 30.69%.
A contraction of 21.48% was seen in imports of textile group – raw cotton, synthetic fibre, synthetic and artificial silk yarn, worn cloths; and another 18.42% in imports of all metals.
The overall food group import declined by 29.22% during FY20 mainly due to imposition of regulatory duties on proceeds foods. The import of spices and pulses posted growth of 6.96% and 21.47%, respectively.
from Gulf Times https://ift.tt/3jgI6XN
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