ISLAMABAD                   -               The imports of medicinal products into the county during the first three quarters of ongoing fiscal year (2019-20) witnessed 8.54 percent decrease as compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year.

Pakistan imported medicinal products of worth $ 756.694 million during July-March (2019-20) as compared to the imports of $ 827.343 million during July-March (2018-19), showing a decline of 8.54 percent, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

In terms of quantity, Pakistan imported 16,625 metric tons of medicinal products during the period under review as compared to the imports of 16,882 metric tons during corresponding period of last year, showing nominal decrease of 1.52 percent in terms of quantity.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the medicinal imports declined by 6.07 percent during March 2020 as compared to the imports of the same month of last year.

The medicinal imports during March 2020 were recorded at $ 78.891 million against the imports of $ 83.990 million in March 2019.

On month-on-month basis, the medicinal imports also dipped by 9.34 percent during March 2020 as compared to the imports of $87.020 million in February 2020, the PBS data revealed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s trade deficit witnessed significant reduction in first three quarters of current financial year and declined by 26.45% as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

During the period under review country’s exports registered about 2.23% growth, whereas imports reduced by 14.42%.

The exports witnessed an increase of 2.23% and reached to $17.451 billion against the exports of $17.071 billion of the same period of last year.

On the other hand, the country’s imports witnessed significant decrease of 14.42% and went down from $40.679 billion last financial year to $34.814 billion of same period of current financial year.

Based on the figures, the trade deficit during the period under review was recorded at $17.363 billion against the deficit of $23.608 billion during last year, showing decline of 26.45 percent.