Daily Times

The imports of overall petroleum group witnessed an increase of 105.31pc during the fiscal year 2021-22 as compared to the corresponding period of the last year.

During the period under review, the total imports of the petroleum group stood at $23,318.722 million, as against the imports of $ 11,357.853 million last year, according to the latest data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Among petroleum commodities, the import of petroleum products rose by 133.90pc, from $ 5,160.138 million last year to $ 12,069.436 million during the period under review. The imports of petroleum crud also increased by 80.18pc, from $ 3,107.314 million last year to $ 5,598.674 million during FY 2021-22 whereas the imports of liquefied natural gas surged by 90.65pc from $ 2,617.127 million to $ 4,989.650 million.

Similarly, the import of liquefied petroleum gas grew by 39.70pc, from $ 472,931 million to $ 660,682 million. However, the imports of all other petroleum group commodities decreased by 18.09pc, from $0. 343 million to $0. 281 million, the data revealed. Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the petroleum group imports witnessed an increase 146. 61pc during the month of June 2022 as compared to the same month of last year.

The petroleum imports during June 2022 were recorded at $ 3,639.248 million against the imports of $ 1,475.680 million during June 2021. On month-on-month basis, the petroleum imports into the country also increased by 37.54pc during June 2022 when compared to the imports of $ 2,645.899 million in May 2022, the data revealed. It is pertinent to mention here that the exports from the country witnessed an increase of 25.51pc during the fiscal year 2021-22 as compared to the corresponding period of last year. According to PBS data, the exports from the country were recorded at $31.760b during July-June (2021-22) against the exports of $25.304b recorded during July-June (2020-21), showing growth of 25.51pc. The imports during the year under review also went up by 41.93pc by growing from $56.380b last year to $80.019b in July-June (2021-22). Based on the data, the trade deficit during the period under review was recorded at $48.259b, showing an increase of 55.29pc over the deficit of $31.076b recorded during last year, the PBS data revealed.