Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The imports of medicinal products during the eleven months of ongoing fiscal year (2019-20) witnessed decrease of 12.17 percent as compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year.
Pakistan imported medicinal products of worth US $ 885.933 million during July-May (2019-20) as compared to the imports of US $1008.668 million during July-May (2018-19), showing negative growth of 12.17 percent, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
In terms of quantity, Pakistan imported 19,257 metric tons of medicinal products during the period under review as compared to the imports of 21,153 metric tons during corresponding period of last year, showing decrease of 8.96 percent in term of quantity.
Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the medicinal imports declined by 30.77 percent during May 2020 as compared to the imports of the same month of last year.
The medicinal imports during May 2020 were recorded at $ 54.911 million against the imports of $ 79.316 million in May 2019.
On month-on-month basis, the medicinal imports also dipped by 26.12 percent during May 2020 when compared to the imports of $74.326 million in April 2020, the PBS data revealed.
It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s trade deficit witnessed significant reduction in eleven months of current financial year and declined by 27.75% as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
The exports witnessed decrease of 6.85% and reached to $19.801 billion against the exports of $21.256 billion of the same period of last year.
On the other hand, the country’s imports witnessed significant decrease of 18.93% and went down from $50.410 billion last financial year to $40.866 billion of same period of current financial year. Based on the figures, the trade deficit during the period under review was recorded at $21.065 billion against the deficit of $29.154 during last year, showing decline of 27.75 percent.
