ISLAMABAD - The country’s oil import bill witnessed reduction of 22.32 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 overall oil imports during July-December (2020-21) were recorded at $4771.471 million against the imports of $6142.197 million during July-December (2019-20), showing decline of 22.32 percent, according to latest PBS data. The commodities that contributed in decline of oil import bill included petroleum products, the imports of which decreased by 16.30 percent, from $2591.065 million last year to $2168.674 million during the current fiscal year.

Likewise, the imports of petroleum crude decreased from $1771.251 million to $1322.952 million, a decline of 25.31 percent while the imports of natural gas (liquified) went down by 35.33 percent, from $1626.814 million to $1052.124 million. On the other hand, the imports of petroleum gas (liquified) increased from $153 million to $227.643 million, showing growth of 48.79 percent while the imports of all other oil products increased by 16.42 percent, from $0.067 million to 0.078 million. Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the oil import bill shrunk by 20.04 percent to $824.872 million in December 2020 when compared to the imports of $1031.564 million in December 2019, the data revealed. However, the imports during December 2020 increased by 6.03 percent in December 2020 when compared to the imports of $777.977 million in November 2020. It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s merchandize exports increased by 4.98 percent during the first half (H1) of the current fiscal year (2020-21) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The exports from the country during July-December (2020-21) were recorded at $12.098 billion against the exports of $11.524 billion during July-December (2019-20), according to the latest PBS data. The imports into the country during the period under review also increased by 5.72 percent by growing from $23.195 billion last year to $24.521 billion during the first half of current fiscal year. Based on the figures, the country’s trade deficit increased by 6.44 percent during the first half compared to the corresponding period of last year. The trade deficit during the first six months of the current fiscal year was recorded at $12.423 billion against the deficit of $11.671 billion last year.