Daily Times

The imports of gold decreased by 6.02 percent during the first half of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

The gold imports during the July-December (2023-24) were recorded at $ 13.562 million as compared to the imports of $14.431 million during July-December (2022-23), according to PBS data.

In terms of quantity, Pakistan imported 240 kilograms of gold during the period under review as compared to the imports of 239 kilograms last year, showing increase of 0.54 percent.

On year-on-year basis, the gold imports decreased by 76.06 percent in December as compared to the same month of last year. The gold imports during December 2023 were recorded at $0.780 compared to imports of $3.259 million.

In terms of quantity, the gold imports declined by 75 percent to 12 kilograms in December 2023 as compared to the imports of 48 kilogram during December 2022 2023.

On month-on-month basis, the gold imports during December 2023 decreased by 79.99 percent when compared to the imports of $3.899 million in November 2023.

In terms of quantity, the gold imports declined by 80 percent when compared to the imports of 60 kilogram during November 2023. It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s overall merchandize trade deficit contracted by 34.29 per cent during the first half of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The Trade deficit from July-December (2023-24) was recorded at $11.148 billion as against the deficit of $16.965 billion in July-December (2022-23), showing negative growth of 34.29 per cent.

During the period under review, the exports increased by 5.17 per cent to $14.981 billion compared to the exports of $14.244 billion during the corresponding period of last year, according to the latest PBS data.

On the other hand, the imports narrowed by 16.28 per cent and were recorded at $26.129 billion compared to $31.209 billion last year.