January 24, 2019: Imports are considered as a backbone of international trade. Reportedly, Pakistan’s balance of payment crisis stems from a rising trade deficit, which in turn results from rising imports recorded at US$ 27.4 billion during the period Jul-Dec FY19, up by 3.01% YoY.
Although Pakistan has bilateral and multilateral trade agreements with many countries, Pakistan’s imports are highly concentrated in few countries.
During Jul-Dec 2018, more than 55 percent of the imports continued to originate from the countries like, China, UAE, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, India, USA, Japan, Kuwait, Germany, UK and Malaysia.
During the period under study, China emerged as the major import origin for Pakistan as the total Chinese imports amounted to US$5.12 billion (18.7%), followed by imports from UAE worth US$ 5.1 billion (18.6%), Singapore US$2 billion (7.4%), Saudi Arabia US$1.6 billion (5.8%) and USA US$ 910 million (3.3%).
The share of UK, Japan, Singapore and china exhibited a decline of 15%, 7% 14.3% and 6.8% respectively during the period under review, as compared to the same period last year. On the other hand, imports from India increased by 28%.
