Foreign trade is important to the Pakistan’s economy because country needs to import various products to complete the increasing demands resulting from its economic recovery and development. Pakistan is not a major trading player in the international trade. Pakistan’s imports have generally been greater than its exports.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), main commodities of imports during August, 2019 were Petroleum products (Rs. 76,215 million), Natural gas, liquified (Rs.46,779 million), Electrical machinery and apparatus (Rs. 38,133 million), Plastic materials (Rs. 25,347 million), Palm oil (Rs. 23,792 million), Iron and steel (Rs. 23,695 million), Petroleum crude (Rs.23,328 million), Iron and steel scrap (Rs. 19,415 million), Power generating machinery (Rs. 15,564 million) and Medicinal Products (Rs. 13,692 million). It is also recorded Pakistan’s imports are highly concentrated to few items namely, Machinery, Petroleum Products, Chemicals, Transport Equipment, Edible oil, Iron and steel, Fertilizers and Tea which account for greater than 70 percent of total imports.
Pakistan’s objectives in negotiating bilateral and regional (preferential and free) trade agreements are mainly to seek better market access by addressing tariff and non-tariff measures, to further facilitate and promote trade, investment and to improve the comparative value of Pakistan’s exports. During mid 90’s Pakistan’s foreign policies are primarily aimed at strengthening trade relations with Asia. The Government of Pakistan is pursuing a policy of export-led growth for which the issues of market access are important. As a consequence, an orchestrated trade policy has been carefully designed. Pakistan has adopted a conscious strategy to slowly increase regional blocks in international trade particularly with Asian states. China, Japan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Indonesia are among those Asian countries who showed a much pronounced arise in trade with Pakistan during present years and almost 35 percent to 40 percent of Pakistan’s imports are from these states.
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| Pakistan Imports | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| S.No. | Commodities | %Change for value in million Rupees in August, 2019 over | |
| July, 2019 | August, 2018 | ||
| 1 | Petroleum products | 15.56 | 18.98 |
| 2 | Natural gas Liquified | -3.40 | 15.80 |
| 3 | Electrical Machinery and Apparatus | 54.89 | 109.20 |
| 4 | Plastic materials | 0.95 | 9.86 |
| 5 | Palm oil | 110.20 | 30.30 |
| 6 | Iron and steel | 32.80 | -10.87 |
| 7 | Petroleum crude | -40.77 | -62.95 |
| 8 | Iron and steel scrap | -9.06 | 8.02 |
| 9 | Power generating machinery | -18.76 | 8.40 |
| 10 | Medicinal Products | 7.69 | 10.32 |
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), imports into Pakistan in August, 2019 worth to Rs. 578,294 million (provisional) as compared to Rs. 638,338 million (provisional) in July, 2019 and Rs. 614,126 million during August, 2018 explaining a decline of 9.41 percent over July, 2019 and by 5.83 percent over August, 2018. In terms of US dollars the imports in August, 2019 was $3,658 million (provisional) as compared to $4,019 million (provisional) in July, 2019 explaining a fall of 8.98 percent and by 26.26 percent as compared to $4,961 million in August, 2018. Officials of PBS also identified that imports during July-August, 2019 worth Rs. 1,216,632 million (provisional) as compared to Rs. 1,211,953 million during the same period of previous year explaining a rise of 0.39 percent.
In terms of US dollars the imports during July – August, 2019 worth $7,677 million (provisional) as compared to $9,769 million during the same period of previous year explaining a fall of 21.41 percent.