Combining these margins with the other
import data in table 2 identifies Thailand, Brazil, and Indonesia as the countries most seriously affected by competitive need limits.
The deficit flattened over the course of the year, and it narrowed sharply in the fourth quarter, as
imports of goods and services flagged while exports picked up (chart 1).
About 150,912 metric tons of soyabean oil
imported in last year to fulfill the domestic requirements as against the
import of 156,718 metric tons of same period of last year.
Imports of palm oil that constitute one-third of our total food
import bill declined in terms of both volume and value.
In the budget, government has given some relief to mobile users as it cut 3% of
import tax on mobile phones.
The PBS data showed the overall
import bill declined by 9.86pc year-on-year to $54.79bn.
Similarly,
import of pulses also fell to $432.54 million in the corresponding period of current fiscal year against the
import worth of $442.7 million in same period of last year thus showing a decrease of 2.3%.
Data from the BAI showed that meat
imports in January and February went up by 29.25 percent to 138,235.097 metric tons (MT), from 106,950.605 MT a year ago.
According to the DOE, the country's total oil
import bill reached $13.48 billion, a 31.8 percent jump from the previous year.
This has remained the single largest factor in the increasing
import bill,' said Pakistan State Oil MD and CEO Sheikh Imranul Haque in a conversation with The Express Tribune.
Energy
imports share increased to 23.7 percent of overall
import bill of $60.86 billion in FY18 against 20.64 percent of total
imports of $52.90 billion in FY17 according to data from Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), reported Express Tribune.
ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's oil and food
import bill has increased by nearly 20 percent on annual basis to $18.6 billion in the first eleven months (July to May) of the current fiscal year owing to an increase in global prices of crude oil and grains.