ISLAMABAD: The gold imports into the country dipped by 22.06 per cent during the first eight months of the current fiscal year (2018-19) as compared to the corresponding period of last year, according to the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
Pakistan imported gold worth $10.272 million during July-February (2018-19) compared to the imports of $13.180 million during July-February (2017-18), showing a decrease of 22.06 per cent. In terms of quantity, Pakistan imported 262kg of gold during the current year compared to the imports of 326kg, showing negative growth of 19.63 per cent.
Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, the gold imports into the country increased by 64.99 per cent in February 2019 compared to the same month of last year. The gold imports in February 2019 were recorded at $0.556 million against the imports of $0.337 million in February 2018.
In terms of quantity, Pakistan imported 14kg of gold during February 2019 against the imports of eight kilograms in February 2018, showing a gain of 75 per cent. On a month-on-month basis, the gold imports decreased by 42.44 per cent during February 2019 when compared to the imports of $0.966 million in January2019.
In terms of quantity, the gold imports witnessed a decrease of 44 per cent when compared to imports of 25 kilogram during January 2019, the PBS data revealed.
It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s merchandise trade deficit plunged by 11.03 per cent during July-February (2018-19) as the deficit contracted by over $2.668 billion to $21.523 billion during the first eight months against the deficit of $24.191 billion the previous year.
The exports during the period under review witnessed an increase of 1.85 per cent to $15.113 billion from $14.838 billion, whereas it declined by 6.13 per cent to $36.636 billion from $39.029 billion recorded during eight months of the current fiscal year, the data revealed.
