Imports of petroleum, food rise to $7.5bn

Pakistan’s oil and eatables imports grew 9.06 per cent to $7.58 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year from $6.95bn a year ago, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said on Tuesday. In contrast, textile and clothing exports could only rise by 3.68pc year-on-year to $4.58bn due to slow demand and the high cost of local production because of expensive energy. The government has recently announced to offer subsidy on energy for the export sector. The oil import bill increased by over 5.94pc to $4.86bn in July-September from $4.59bn over the corresponding months of last year. Further breakup showed that the import of petroleum products went up by 9.79pc in value. Crude oil imports rose by 7.98pc in value during the period under review while those of liquefied natural gas declined by 5.35pc in value. Liquefied petroleum gas imports jumped by 10.69pc in value in FY23.