The settlement of letters of credit (LCs), generally known as actual imports, stood at $33,683.51 million in the July-December period compared to $41,175.28 million in the same period a year earlier.
The country’s overall import orders, known as the fresh opening of import LCs, also declined by 5.33 per cent YoY to $32,929.31 million during that six-month period against $34,784.72 million in the same period of the last fiscal, domestic media outlets reported.
The country’s trade deficit in fiscal 2022-23 dropped by 48.41 per cent YoY to $17.16 billion.
The central bank has taken several measures to discourage imports to boost shrinking forex reserves, which now stand at around $20 billion.
ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)
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