Petroleum import bill falls by 16.39% YoY to $1.23bn in October: SBP

November 20, 2023 (MLN): The import bill of the petroleum group plunged to $1.23 billion in October 2023, marking a decrease of 16.39% YoY compared to the import bill of $1.47bn recorded in October 2022, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed.

Conversely, the imports of petroleum products went up by 3.97% MoM compared to the bill of $1.18bn in September 2023.

It is pertinent to mention that the overall import bill has dropped by 6.6% YoY to $4.35bn in October.

While on a monthly basis, imports have increased by 9.47% MoM compared to the imports worth $3.97bn recorded in September 2023.

Cumulatively in 4MFY24, total imports marked a decline of 20.07% YoY to $16.79bn compared to imports of $21.01bn in 4FY23.

The share of petroleum products in the total import bill stood at 28.25% in October 2023.

In 4MF24, the import bill of petroleum products went significantly down by 43.15% to $4.29bn against $7.55bn recorded in the same period last year.

With regards to the transport sector, the import bill posted a decline of 11.88% YoY and 20.15% MoM to $100.42m in October 2023, against $113.95m in October 2022 and $125.75m in September 2023.

This decline is attributed to a fall in imports of road motor vehicles that stood at $83.19m compared to $106.49m in October 2022 and $104.46m in September, depicting a fall of 21.88% YoY and 20.37% MoM.

Cumulatively in 4MFY24, imports from the transport sector inched down by 0.96% YoY to $518.41m compared to imports of $523.44m in 4MFY23.

Going forward, the import of agricultural and other chemicals inched up by 0.72% YoY and 7.58% MoM to clock in at $767.69m.

Meanwhile, during 4MFY24, the imports for the same group showed a decline of 7.33% YoY to clock in at $3bn.

The country’s food imports went down by 16.36% YoY to $576.65m in October 2023 as compared to $689.41m in October 2022.

Conversely, on a monthly basis, the food group’s import surged by 25.39% MoM compared to the import worth $459.88m in September.

Under the group, the imports of palm oil witnessed a decline of 26.74% YoY during the review period.

Likewise, the import of pulses fell by 31.51% YoY and 5.16% MoM to clock in at $52.23m in the review month.

The data released by the central bank further shows that the machinery import witnessed an increase of 19.6% YoY to $523.86m in October against the imports of $438.03m in the SPLY.

Under the Machinery group, the major portion of import was associated with Electrical Machinery and apparatus as it stood at $153.29m, observing an increase of 54.91% YoY and 13.19% MoM.

The import bill associated with the metal group clocked at $453.82m, witnessing a rise of 35.67% YoY and 39.69% MoM, due to a massive jump in the import of iron and steel reported at $245.67m in October.

Under the textile group, the country incurred import expenditure worth $259.45m during the review period, up by 9.92% MoM, while down by 23.55% YoY.

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