By Irfan Ahmed ISLAMABAD, June 06 (INP-WealthPK): Pakistan’s iron and steel imports decreased by 10.30% to $190.57 million in April 2022, compared to $212.45 million in March 2022, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). Data shows that Pakistan imported 194,492 metric tonnes of iron and steel in April 2022 compared to 248,115 metric tonnes in March. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, iron and steel imports increased by 12.46%, and remained at $190.57 million in April 2022 compared to $169.449 million in April 2021. Data further shows that imports of iron and steel jumped by 48.83% to $2.377 billion during the last 10 months of the current fiscal year (2021-22) as compared to $1.579 billion during the corresponding period of last year. [caption id="attachment_67979" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Source: PBS website/WealthPK research[/caption] As per PBS data, aluminum imports were recorded at $205.188 million during July-April 2021-22 against the imports of $137,424 million in July-April 2020-21, showing a growth of 49%. Aluminum imports decreased by 1.11% month-on-month (MoM) to $25.776 million in April 2022, as compared to $26.065 million in March 2022. On YoY basis, aluminum imports increased by 55.97% and remained at $25.776 million in April 2022 compared to $16.526 million in April 2021. Other metal and articles imports were recorded at $850.426 million in first 10 months of FY22 against the imports of $723,087 million in the corresponding period of FY21, showing a growth of 17.61%. Gold imports increased by 159.87% during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year. Gold imports during July-April 2021-22 were recorded at $18.006 million as compared to imports of $6.929 million during July-April 2020-21. In terms of quantity, Pakistan imported 287kg gold during the period under review as compared to the imports of 115kg last year, WealthPK reported. On YoY basis, gold imports witnessed an increase of 158.90% during April 2022 as compared to imports of the same month of last year. Gold imports during April 2022 were recorded at $2.532 million as compared to the imports of $0.978 million last April. On MoM basis, gold imports during April 2022 increased by 54.73% as compared to the imports of $1.636 million in March 2022. Pakistan’s total metal group imports surged by 34.78% to 5.448 billion in first 10 months of FY22 against the imports of $4.042 billion in the corresponding period of FY21. The country’s overall metal group imports in April 2022 were $473.058 million as compared to $525.755 million in March 2022, showing a decrease of 10.02%. On YoY basis, metal group imports increased by 12.12% to $473.058 million in April 2022 as compared to $421.527 million in April 2021. The country’s total exports increased by 25.46% and remained at $26.228 billion in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year compared to $20.905 billion during the same period of FY21. Imports climbed by 46.41% in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, reaching $65.492 billion, up from $44.731 billion in the same period the previous fiscal year. The country’s trade deficit widened by 2.72% on MoM basis to $3.742 billion in April 2022, against $3.643 billion in March 2022. [caption id="attachment_67978" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Source: PBS website/WealthPK research[/caption] Imports must be reduced to uplift Pakistan's economy. The government must slap ban on the import of metals and increase the regulatory duty (RD). The government also needs to depreciate the exchange rate. A weaker dollar makes imports more expensive and exports cheaper. It will lead to improved trade balance because cheaper exports rates will trigger a massive increase in export volume. In a nutshell, the metal production capacity of the country must be increased to counter imports. More capacity for quality and cheap production leads to a decrease in imports. A long-term strategy must be devised and implemented for enhancing metal productivity that helps in import reduction.