ISLAMABAD: The imports of medicinal products into the country during the first seven months of financial year (2019-20) dipped by 9.95 percent as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
Pakistan imported medicinal products of worth $590.783 million during July-January (2019-20) compared to the imports of $656.080 million during July- January (2018-19), showing negative growth of 9.95 percent, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
In terms of quantity, Pakistan imported 13,195 metric tons of medicinal products during the period under review as compared to the imports of 13,590 metric tons during corresponding period of last year, showing decrease of 2.91 percent in term of quantity.
Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the medicinal imports declined by 8.22 percent in January 2020 when compared to the imports of the same month of last year.
The medicinal imports during January 2020 were recorded at $ 73.354 million against the imports of $ 82.105 million in January 2019.
On month-on-month basis, the medicinal imports also decreased by 14.06 percent during January 2020 when compared to the imports of $87.683 million in December 2019, the PBS data revealed.
It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s merchandise trade deficit plunged by 28.40 percent during the first seven months of the current fiscal year (2019-20) as compared to the deficit of the same month of last year.
During the period under review, the country’s exports registered about 2.14 per cent growth, whereas imports reduces by 15.95 per cent, according the foreign trade statistics, released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
During the period from July-January (2019-20), exports reached to $13.498 billion against the exports of $13.216 billion of the same period of last year, it added.
Meanwhile, the country’s imports witnessed significant decrease of 15.95 % as these went down from $32.420 billion in first seven months of last financial year to $27.249 billion of same period of current financial year, it said.
