Gold imports surge by 160pc in 3 quarters

ISLAMABAD - The gold imports increased by 160.03 per cent during the three quarters of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

The gold imports during July-March (2021-22) were recorded at $15.474 million as compared to the imports of $5.951 million during July-March (2020-21), according to the data. In terms of quantity, Pakistan imported 253 kilograms of gold during the period under review as compared to the imports of 98 kilograms last year, showing positive growth of 158.51 percent. Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the gold imports witnessed an increase of 156.83 percent during the month of March 2022 as compared to the imports of the same month of last year. The gold imports during March 2022 were recorded at $1.636 million as compared to the imports of $0.637 million during last March. On month-on-month basis, the gold imports during March 2022 however decreased by 22.32 percent when compared to the imports of $2.106 million in February 2021. In terms of quantity, the gold imports increased by 109.09 percent to 23 kilogram in March 2022 against the imports of 11 kilogram in March 2021.

The gold imports decreased by 24.29 percent in March 2022 when compared to the imports of 35 kilogram registered in February. It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s overall merchandize imports during the first three quarters of the current fiscal year went up by 48.63 percent by growing from $39.489 billion last year to $58.691 billion in July-March (2021-22). The exports also increased by 24.67 percent and were recorded at $23.298 billion this year against $18.687 billion last year, according to PBS data. On year-on-year basis, the exports of the country increased by 15.91 percent during March 2022 as compared to the exports of same month of last year. The exports during March 2022 were recorded at $2.740 billion against the exports of $2.364 billion in March 2021, the data revealed. The imports into the country increased from $5.631 billion in March 2021 to $6.186 billion in March 2022, showing growth of 9.86 percent, according to PBS data.

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