Petroleum import bill drops by 29.46% YoY to $1.1 in March: SBP

April 22, 2024 (MLN): The import bill of the petroleum group declined to $1.1 billion in March 2024, marking a decrease of 29.46% YoY compared to the import bill of $1.56bn recorded in March 2023, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed.

Similarly, the imports of petroleum products went down by 8.18% MoM compared to the bill of $1.2bn in February 2024.

The share of petroleum products in the total import bill stood at 24.7% in March 2024.

In 9MFY24, the import bill of petroleum products went significantly down by 26.71% YoY to $11.08bn against $15.12bn recorded in the same period last year.

It is pertinent to mention that the overall import bill has increased by 7% YoY to $4.45bn in March.

Likewise, on a monthly basis, imports increased by 2.23% MoM compared to the imports worth $4.35bn recorded in February 2024.

Cumulatively in 9MFY24, total imports marked a drop of 7.98% YoY to $38.78bn compared to imports of $42.14bn in 9MFY23.

With regards to the transport sector, the import bill posted a rise of 43.17% YoY to $125.31m in March 2024, against $87.52m in March 2023.

This increase is attributed to a rise in imports of road motor vehicles that stood at $100.67m compared to $79.11m in March 2023, depicting a rise of 27.26% YoY.

Comparison on a sequential basis reflects a decline of 3.46% MoM compared to transport imports of $129.81m in the previous month.

Cumulatively in 9MFY24, imports from the transport sector went up by 13.44% YoY to $1.15bn compared to imports of $1.01bn in 9MFY23.

The second and third-highest imports were by the Food Group and Machinery Group, worth $752.14m and $732.99m, respectively in the review month.

The import of agricultural and other chemicals increased by 8.71% YoY and 5.04% MoM to clock in at $691.23m.

Meanwhile, during 9MFY24, the imports for the same group showed a rise of 2.38% YoY to clock in at $6.73bn.

The country’s food imports went up by 38.98% YoY to $752.14m in March as compared to $541.21m in the same period last year.

Conversely, on a monthly basis, the food group’s import dropped by 0.05% MoM compared to the import worth $752.5m in February.

Under the group, Palm Oil emerged as the dominant food import and stood at $275.83m, up by 50.54% YoY during the review period.

Likewise, the import of Tea rose by 56.12% YoY to clock in at $57.59m in the review month.

On a sequential basis, imports of Palm Oil increased by 24.9% while the imports of Tea grew by 27.4% MoM, respectively.

The fourth major import group was the Agri. & Other Chemical as the outflow of foreign currency stood at $691.23m, observing an increase of 8.71% YoY and 5.04% MoM.

The import bill associated with the metal group clocked at $373.56m, expanding by 83.97% YoY while dropping 9.87% in March.

Under the Textile Group, the country incurred an import expenditure worth $337.21m during the review period, down by 20.48% YoY, while up 12.32%.

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