LAHORE: Pakistan bought palm oil from outside the country more than 46.74 percent more in the first three quarters of this fiscal year than in the same period last year, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
In July-March (2021-22), palm oil imports totaled $2,730.668 million, compared to imports of $1,860.934 million in July-March (2020-21).
On the other hand, soyabean imports into the country also rose by 113.73 percent to $103.283 million from $48.325 million last year.
March 2022 saw a 5.43 percent rise in palm oil imports from outside the country compared to the same month of last year. Data from the PBS shows that palm oil imports in March 2022 were $290.524 million, compared to imports of $275.549 million in March 2019.
The amount of soyabean imports also went up by 100% to $11.750 million in the month under review, compared to the same month last year when there were no imports of soy beans.
Compared to February 2022, palm oil imports dropped 6.21 percent in March 2022, to $309.766 million, when compared to the imports of $309.766 million in February 2020. The imports of soyabean, on the other hand, went up by 27.7% in March 2022, when compared to the imports of $16.772 in February 2022.
Overall food imports rose 15.46 percent from $6,121,358 million last year to $7,067,740 million this year.
It also rose 13.36 percent on a year-over-year basis in March 2022 over the same month last year. People bought tea in March 2022 for $63.234 million, compared with $55.782 million in February 2021.
Compared to February 2022, March 2022 saw a drop in the amount of tea that was imported. This was 8.73 percent less than the $69.279 million that was imported in February.
It’s important to point out that the country’s overall imports of goods went up by 48.63 percent in the first three quarters of this fiscal year. They went from $39.489 billion to $58.691 billion in the same period of time last year (2021-22).
PBS data shows that exports also grew by 24.67% and were worth $23.298 billion this year, compared to $18.687 billion last year, which is a big change.
Country exports rose 15.91 percent year-over-year in March 2022 when compared to exports from the same month of last year.
The exports in March 2022 were $2.740 billion, compared to $2.364 billion in March 2021, the data showed.
According to PBS data, imports into the country went up from $5.631 billion in March 2021 to $6.186 billion in March 2022, which is a 9.86 percent rise in imports.