KARACHI: The food group imports into the country dipped by 19.20pc in the first month of the current financial year (July-FY20) as compared to the corresponding month of last year.
Food commodities worth $361.091 million were imported during the month under review, as compared to commodities worth $446.943 million imported during the same month of last year (July-FY18), according to data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan.
The import of milk and cream products decreased by 35.47pc, from $23.645 million in July 2018 to $15.256 million in July 2019.
Similarly, the import of tea witnessed a drop of 27.79pc, from $48.303 last year to $34.877 million in July 2019, whereas the import of palm oil witnessed a decline of 29.77pc, from $165.648 million to $116.330 million.
Moreover, the country imported sugar and pulses worth $0.231 million and $38.012 million during July 2019, as against $0.329 million and $45.532 million spent on these items during the same month of last year, a decline of 29.78pc and 16.51pc respectively.
On the other hand, dry fruit imports grew 0.70pc during the period under review, from $0.564 million in July 2018 to $0.568 million in July 2019.
The import of spices increased by 15.45pc, from $12.041 million to $13.902 million, whereas the import of soya bean oil also grew by 266.63pc, from $3.555 million to $13.034 million.
During the month under review, the import of all other food items decreased by 12.50pc, from $147.305 million to $128.881 million.
