Gold imports increase 3.61%

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: The gold imports into the country increased by 3.61 percent during the first seven months of the current financial year (2019-20) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Pakistan imported gold worth $10.068 million during July-January (2019-20) compared to the imports of $9.717 million during July-January (2018-19), showing growth of 3.61 percent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

In terms of quantity, the country imported 240 kilograms of gold during the period under review compared to imports of 248 kg during last year, showing decrease of 3.23 percent.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the gold imports into the country during January 2020 decreased by 7.13 percent when compared to the imports of the same month of the last year.

The gold imports during the month under review were recorded at $0.899 million against the imports of 0.968 million during January 2019. On month-on-month basis, the gold imports during January 2020 witnessed decrease of 47.88% when compared to the imports of $1.725 million in December 2019, the data revealed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Country’s trade deficit witnessed significant reduction in last seven months (July-January) of current financial year and shrunk by 28.40 per cent as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

During the period under review, the country’s exports registered about 2.14 per cent growth, whereas imports reduced by 15.95 per cent, the PBS data revealed. 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.