Pakistan’s bill for oil and food imports posted double-digit month-on-month growth during August, revealed Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data, forming close to half of the country's total imports of $6.071 billion.
Meanwhile, textile and clothing exports grew by 6.4% month-on-month, data showed.
Oil imports increased by over 29.9% to $1.866 billion in August from $1.436 billion in July. Further breakup showed that the import of petroleum products went up by 28% in value and increased 50% in quantity. Crude oil imports rose by 10% in value while inching up 7% in quantity during August on a monthly basis.
Aug trade deficit soars 28.89pc to $3.53bn MoM
Moreover, the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) clocked in at $399 million, reflecting a MoM increase of 73%. Imports of liquefied petroleum gas jumped by 36% to $63 million in August, in comparison to $46 million in July.
At the same time, food group imports rose by over 33.7% to $1,020 million in August from $763 million in July, amid rise in demand for edibles.
Within the food group, the import of wheat stood at $203.62 million in August, reflecting a monthly increase of 90% in value and 94% in quantity. Moreover, other major contribution to food items came from palm oil and pulses.
The PBS data showed that the textile and clothing exports grew by 6.4% MoM, reaching $1,575 million in August. Data showed that exports of ready-made garments reached $330 million in August as compared to $305 million in July an increase of 8.4%, while the exports of knitwear clocked in at $450 million, a monthly increase of 3.4% in August.
Last month, government decided to remove the ban on imports of all products, a restriction that was imposed to control the outflow of dollars and arrest the rupee's massive decline in value.
“As it is a requirement of the international community, we will remove ban on all imports,” Finance Minister Miftah had said then.
However, he stressed that import of luxury items would remain low as the government would impose such regulatory duties (RD) that these goods will not enter Pakistan as finished goods.