ISLAMABAD: The imports of automobiles and mobile phones witnessed a massive growth of 83 per cent and 63pc, respectively, during the first 11 months of the current fiscal year.

The latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Saturday showed that import of transport group posted a growth of 83.33pc to $2.624bn in 11MFY21 as against $1.431bn in the same period last year, marking a revival in local automobile production as well as import of completely built-up units.

Of these, import of CKD/SKD road motor vehicles stood at $2.180bn in 11MFY21 against $1.431m in 11MFY20, an increase of 86.72pc. Import of CBU surged by 81.29pc to $336.941m in 11MFY21 compared to $185.861m.

In the machinery group, the total import bill reached $8.863bn in 11MFY21 as against $7.843bn in 11MFY20, a growth of 13.01pc. Import of power generating machinery was up by 44.52pc to $1.587bn from $1.098bn in 11MFY20. It is mainly because of revival of power projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

The second biggest contributor to the group is the import of mobile phones which increased by 63.40pc to $1.860bn in 11MFY21 as against $1.138bn over the last year. On the other hand, statistics showed the oil import bill up to $9.882bn in the July-May period, increased by 0.76pc from $9.807bn in 11MFY20.

The petroleum product imports were down 0.15pc in value in the 11 months’ des­pite increasing by 30.72pc in quantity. However, import of crude oil were up 5.32pc in value but posted growth of 31.50pc in quantity during the period under review while those of liquefied natural gas fell by 7.76pc in value. On the other hand, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports jumped 48.11pc in value in July-May, largely to plug a shortfall in local production.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2021