ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s oil and eatable import bill posted a double-digit growth in the first month of the current fiscal year owing to higher international prices and massive depreciation of the rupee.

While the textile and clothing exports also grew marginally by 0.67 per cent year-on-year, showed data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.

The oil import bill increased by over 7.96pc to $1.436bn in July from $1.330bn in the corresponding month last year.

Further breakup showed that the import of petroleum products went up by 12.45pc in value and dipped 40.90pc in quantity. Crude oil imports rose by 14.53pc in value but dipped 19.74pc in quantity during the month under review. However, the import of liquefied natural gas declined by 15.15pc in value. Liquefied petroleum gas imports jumped by 33.58pc in value in July FY22.

The food import bill rose by over 17.87pc to $763.135m in July from $647.438m in FY22 to bridge the local production gap. Within the food group, the major contribution came from wheat, sugar, edible oil, spices, tea and pulses.

Despite the ban, the import value of mobile phones was $38.804m in July 2022 slightly down by 67.46pc to $119.237 in the previous year’s month.

Textile exports

The PBS data showed that the textile and clothing exports grew just by 0.67pc year-on-year in July. High energy cost was one of the reasons for the slowdown in textile exports in the first month of the current fiscal year.

Data showed that ready-made garments exports increased 1.14pc in value and 48.52pc in quantity for July FY22, while the exports of knitwear edged up 10.75pc in value and 57.70pc in quantity.

Bedwear exports dipped by 3.55pc in value and 22.16pc in quantity. Towel exports were down by 3.67pc in value and 22.07pc in quantity, whereas those of cotton cloth rose by 1.42pc in value and dipped 30.81pc in quantity.

Among primary commodities, cotton yarn exports dipped by 20.59pc. However, those of yarn made from materials other than cotton increased by 17.78pc. The exports of made-up articles — excluding towels — dipped by 18.45pc, while those of tents, canvas and tarpaulin increased by 32.10pc during the month under review.

The import of textile machinery dipped 42.46pc in July FY22, reflecting that manufacturers have reduced the import of machinery for expansion or modernisation in the textile industry.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2022