KARACHI: The share of import payment to China has increased to 21.42 percent during first four months (July – October) 2019/2020 as compared with share of 18 percent in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
The total payment for import from China was at $3.14 billion during first four months of current fiscal year out of Pakistan’s total import bill of $14.65 billion for the same period, according to statistics released by State Bank of Pakistan.
The total payment for import from China was at $3.45 billion in first four months of fiscal year 2018/2019 when total import bill for the period was $19.02 billion.
The payment for total import bill has registered 23 percent decline to $14.656 billion during first four months of current fiscal year as compared with $19.016 billion in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.
The payment for import from China, however, also declined but by 9.14 percent to $3.14 billion during first four months of current fiscal year as compared with $3.45 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.
China is remained the largest exporting country for Pakistani markets during the first four months of current fiscal year.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the second largest exporting country for Pakistani markets during the period under review.
However, the import payment to UAE fell sharply by 30 percent and stood at $2.44 billion during first four months of current fiscal year as compared with $3.5 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
The share of import payment to UAE in total import payment of Pakistan also fell to 16.68 percent during July – October 2019/2020 as compared with share of 18.44 percent in total import bill in July – October 2018/2019.
Pakistan has taken several measures during the past couple of years to discourage imports of luxury and non-essential items.
The decline in import bill during the first four months can be attributed to those measures taken by the government.
