Daily Times

The imports of the overall petroleum group contracted by 8.28 percent during the first eight months of the current fiscal year (2022-23) as compared to the corresponding period of the last year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported. The total imports of the petroleum group during July-February (2022-23) stood at $11,876.711 million, as against the imports of $12,948.503 million during the same period of last year, according to PBS data. Among petroleum commodities, the import of petroleum products declined by 14.47 percent, from $6,257.698 million last year to $5,352.506 million during the time period under review. Likewise, the imports of liquefied natural gas declined by 17.19 percent and dropped from $3,080.445 million last year to $2,550.830 million this year. On the other hand, the products that witnessed positive growth included petroleum crude, the imports of which grew by 10.32 percent, from $3,157.646 million last year to $3,483.619 million whereas imports of liquefied petroleum gas increased by 8.17 percent, from $452.517 million to $489.484 million. The imports of all other petroleum products increased by 37.82 percent, from $ 0.197 million to $0.271 million. Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, the petroleum group imports witnessed an increase of one percent during the month of February 2023 as compared to the same months of last year. The petroleum imports during February 2023 were recorded as $1,264.981 million against the imports of $1,252.494 million during February 2022. On a month-on-month basis, the petroleum imports into the country however declined by 4.62 percent during February 2023, as compared to the imports of $1,326.208 million in January 2022, said the data.