Pakistan’s imports of medicinal products declined 76.25% during the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year (2022-23) compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year (2021-22), WealthPK reported. Pakistan imported medicinal products worth $735.944 million during July-December FY23 compared to $3.099 billion during the same months of FY22, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

In terms of quantity, the imports also dipped by 30.34% to 18,889 metric tons during the period under review compared to 27,114 metric tons last year. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, medicinal products imports during December 2022 decreased by 89.43% to $103.143 million from $975.631 million in December 2021.

On a monthly basis, medicinal products imports during December 2022 declined by 33.51% compared to $155.130 million in November 2022. During the first seven months of the current fiscal year, the merchandise trade deficit witnessed a decline of 31.97%, and was recorded at $19.632 billion against a deficit of $28.859 billion last year.

According to PBS data, the exports during July-January FY23 were recorded at $16.469 billion against $17.739 billion during the corresponding period of FY22, showing a decline of 7.16%. On the other hand, imports decreased by 22.53% during the period under review from $46.598 billion last year to $36.101 billion during the current year.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk