Data from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reveals a significant decrease in the import bill of the petroleum group, amounting to $1.2 billion in February 2024. Marking a notable decline of 16.3% Month-over-Month (MoM) compared to the previous month’s import bill of $1.43 billion recorded in January 2024. Similarly, petroleum product imports experienced a Year-over-Year (YoY) drop of 7.12% compared to February 2023, totaling $1.29 billion.
IMPORT BILL COMPOSITION
The share of petroleum products in the total import bill stood at 28% in February 2024. Over an eight-month period from fiscal year 2023 to 2024 (8MFY23), the import bill of petroleum products witnessed a significant YoY decrease of 20.89%, amounting to $9.98 billion compared to $12.62 billion in the corresponding period last year.
Despite the decline in petroleum imports, the overall import bill increased by 10.24% YoY to $4.28 billion in February 2024. However, on a monthly basis, imports decreased by 6.13% MoM compared to January 2024, where imports were worth $4.55 billion. Cumulatively, in the first eight months of fiscal year 2024 (8MFY24), total imports marked a YoY drop of 8.77% to $34.08 billion compared to $37.35 billion in 8MFY23.
TRANSPORT SECTOR IMPORTS
In the transport sector, the import bill surged by 78.48% YoY to $129.97 million in February 2024, attributed to increased imports of road motor vehicles. Imports in this category rose by 59.61% YoY, totaling $107.76 million. On a sequential basis, transport imports grew by 12.96% MoM compared to the previous month’s imports of $115.06 million.
OTHER IMPORT GROUPS
The Food Group and Agri. & Other Chemical emerged as the second and third-highest import categories, worth $753.29 million and $660.66 million, respectively, in February 2024. Agricultural and other chemical imports saw an 11.69% YoY increase but fell by 23.26% MoM. Food imports decreased by 2.74% YoY but increased by 8.41% MoM.
Under the Machinery Group, foreign currency outflow amounted to $645.47 million, observing a significant YoY increase. The Metal Group’s import bill stood at $414.65 million, rising substantially YoY and MoM. In the Textile Group, the import expenditure totaled $300.89 million, showing a YoY decrease but a slight MoM increase.
