ISLAMABAD: The gold imports have surged by 83.89 per cent to $7.089 million during the first quarter (July-September) of ongoing fiscal year 2015-16 as compared to the imports of $3.855 million during the corresponding period of last year.
In terms of quantity, the gold imports witnessed positive growth of 112.09 percent during the period under review. Overall 193 kilograms of gold were imported during the first quarter of the current fiscal year compared to the imports of 91 kilograms during last year, the data revealed.
On year-on-year basis, the imports of gold increased by 9.31 percent in September compared to the same month of last year. The gold imports in September 2015 were recorded at $2.725 million whereas the imports during September 2014 stood at $2.493 million.
On month-on-month basis, the gold imports witnessed increase of 1.41 percent in September 2015 when compared to the imports of $2.687 million in August 2015, according to the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
During the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the imports of overall metal group witnessed decrease of 1.07 percent. The metal group imports stood at $896.237 million this year compared to the imports of $905.915 million. Among the metal group, the imports of iron and steel scrap decreased by 13.28 percent by falling from $264.830 million last year to $229.659 million this year.
Meanwhile, the imports of iron and steel increased by 4.42 million to $444.760 million this year from $425.937 million last year. Similarly, the imports of aluminium wrought and worked increased from $32.668 million to $41.478 million, showing increase of 26.97 percent.
The imports of all other metals and articles witness negative growth of 3.01 percent during the period under review. The imports of all other metals and articles were recorded at $173.251 million this year compared to the imports of $178.625 million last year.
It is pertinent to mention here that during the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the overall trade deficit narrowed by 15.03 percent as revealed by the PBS data, owing to decline in imports as well as exports.
The imports during the period stood at $10.656 billion in July-September (2015-16) whereas the exports from the country stood at $5.155 billion during the period.
