ISLAMABAD: The gold imports into the country decreased by 52.99 percent during the first seven months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.
The gold imports during July-January (2020-21) were recorded at $4.732 million as compared to the imports of $10.067 million during July-January (2019-20), the data revealed.
In terms of quantity, Pakistan imported just 77 kilograms of gold during the period under review as compared to the imports of 244 kilograms last year, showing a decline of 68.44 percent.
On year-on-year basis, the gold imports into the country witnessed a sharp decline of 61.07 percent during the month of January 2021 as compared to the imports of January 2020. The gold imports during January 2021 were recorded at $0.350 million against the imports of $0.899 million in January 2020.
In terms of quantity, the gold imports decreased by 72.22 percent from 18 kilograms during January 2020 to imports of just 5 kilograms in January 2021.
On month-on-month basis, the gold imports during January 2021 decreased by 28.72 percent when compared to the imports of $0.491 million in December 2020 while in terms of quantity, the imports decreased by 37.50 percent in January 2021 when compared to the imports of 8 kilograms in December 2020.
It is pertinent to mention here that the merchandise exports increased by 5.53 percent during the first seven months of the current fiscal year (2020-21) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
The exports of the country during July-January (2020-21) were recorded at $14.242 billion against the exports of $13.496 billion during July-January (2019-20), according to the latest PBS data.
The imports during the period under review also increased by 6.92 percent by growing from $27.316 billion last year to $29.205 billion during the first seven months of current fiscal year.
Based on the figures, the country’s trade deficit increased by 8.27 percent during the first seven months as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The trade deficit during the first seven months of the current fiscal year was recorded at $14.963 billion against the deficit of $13.820 billion last year.
