Pakistan’s July Mobile Phone Imports Reach Rs. 19 Billion

Pakistan’s mobile phone imports have surged to an impressive Rs. 19 billion in July 2023, as indicated by the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

According to the PBS report, the imports recorded in July 2023 exhibited a substantial 24 percent increase compared to the imports of Rs. 15.356 billion registered in the preceding month, June 2023.

The remarkable uptick in imports stands in stark contrast to the corresponding month of the previous fiscal year (FY24), displaying a staggering surge of almost 125 percent when juxtaposed with the imports of Rs. 6.542 billion in July 2022.

When assessed in terms of dollars, the imports for July 2023 reached $68.135 million, marking a 27 percent upswing in comparison to June 2023 and a remarkable 75 percent rise compared to July 2022.

It’s worth noting that the government had implemented stringent import restrictions the previous year in an effort to manage the outflow of dollars, consequently leading to a reduction in imports.

These restrictions played a pivotal role in narrowing Pakistan’s trade deficit by an impressive 43.03 percent, bringing it down to $27.547 billion in the fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23) from the $48.354 billion recorded during the corresponding period the previous year. The import volume witnessed a substantial 31 percent decline during this period, dropping from $80.136 billion in FY22 to $55.291 billion in FY23.

However, with the central bank’s recent decision to lift all import restrictions towards the end of June, imports have once again begun to surge.