ISLAMABAD – The country’s oil import bill witnessed reduction of 22.32percent during the first half of the current fiscal year as compared to thecorresponding 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 duringJuly-December (2019-20), showing decline of 22.32 percent, according tolatest PBS data. The commodities that contributed in decline of oil importbill included petroleum products, the imports of which decreased by 16.30percent, from $2591.065 million last year to $2168.674 million during thecurrent fiscal year.

Likewise, the imports of petroleum crude decreased from $1771.251 millionto $1322.952 million, a decline of 25.31 percent while the imports ofnatural gas (liquified) went down by 35.33 percent, from $1626.814 millionto $1052.124 million. On the other hand, the imports of petroleum gas(liquified) increased from $153 million to $227.643 million, showing growthof 48.79 percent while the imports of all other oil products increased by16.42 percent, from $0.067 million to 0.078 million. Meanwhile, onyear-on-year basis, the oil import bill shrunk by 20.04 percent to $824.872million in December 2020 when compared to the imports of $1031.564 millionin December 2019, the data revealed. However, the imports during December2020 increased by 6.03 percent in December 2020 when compared to theimports of $777.977 million in November 2020. It is pertinent to mentionhere that the country’s merchandize exports increased by 4.98 percentduring the first half (H1) of the current fiscal year (2020-21) as comparedto the corresponding period of last year.

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