Petroleum import bill rises 8% to $1.41bn in August

September 18, 2024 (MLN): The import bill of the petroleum group increased to $1.41 billion in August 2024, marking an increase of 8% compared to the import bill of $1.3bn recorded in August 2023, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed.

Similarly, the imports of petroleum products increased by 15.07% compared to the bill of $1.22bn in July 2024.

The share of petroleum products in the total import bill stood at 29.88% in August 2024.

In 2MFY25, the import bill of petroleum products went significantly up by 20.83% to $2.63bn against $2.18bn recorded in the same period last year.

It is pertinent to mention that the overall import bill has increased by 11.36% YoY to $4.71bn in August.

While on a monthly basis, imports fell by 2.16% compared to the imports worth $4.82bn recorded in July 2024.

Cumulatively in 2MFY25, total imports marked a rise of 13.82% to $9.53bn compared to imports of $8.38bn in 2MFY24.

With regards to the transport sector, the import bill posted a rise of 7.27% to $146.95m in August 2024, against $136.99m in August 2023.

This increase is attributed to a growth in imports of road motor vehicles that stood at $138.51m compared to $121.53m in August 2023, depicting a rise of 13.97% YoY.

Comparison on a sequential basis reflects decline of 0.56% compared to transport imports of $147.78m in the previous month.

Cumulatively in 2MFY25, imports from the transport sector went up by 0.85% to $294.73m compared to imports of $292.24m in 2MFY24.

The second and third-highest imports were by the Agri. & Other Chemical and Machinery Group, worth $781.63m and $638.47m, respectively in the review month.

The import of agricultural and other chemicals increased by 10.88% YoY, while fell by 2.48% MoM to clock in at $781.63m.

Meanwhile, during 2MFY25, the imports for the same group showed a rise of 4.43% YoY to clock in at $1.58bn.

The country’s food imports went down by 15.87% to $508.77m in August as compared to $604.78m in the same period last year.

Similarly, on a monthly basis, the food group’s import dropped by 4.99% compared to the import worth $535.52m in July.

Under the group, Palm Oil emerged as the dominant food import and stood at $251.16m, down by 7.07% YoY during the review period.

Likewise, the import of Pulses fell by 18.85% YoY to clock in at $59.47m in the review month.

On a sequential basis, imports of Palm Oil dropped by 5.04% while the imports of Pulses grew by 9.91% MoM, respectively.

The import bill associated with the metal group clocked at $391.86m, expanding by 11.94% YoY, while dropping 13.77% MoM in August.

Under the Textile Group, the country incurred an import expenditure worth $399.95m during the review period, up by 20.71% YoY and 2.37% MoM.

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