Pakistan’s coal imports from Afghanistan crossed $170 million in the first four months of the current fiscal year (FY23).
According to details, Pakistan imported coal worth $171 million from Afghanistan during the first four months of the current fiscal year, compared to imports of $28 million during the same period of the last fiscal year. The figures show that Pakistan’s coal imports from Afghanistan have increased by 511 percent during the period under review compared to the last fiscal year.
Pakistan’s total imports from Afghanistan stood at $408 million in July-October FY23, compared to total imports of $247 million in the same period of the previous fiscal year, depicting an increase of 65 percent. Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan stood at $333 million during the period under review.
Overall, the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan stood at $741 million during the first four months of the current fiscal year.
It is pertinent to mention here that the government’s decision to allow the use of Afghan coal in local power generation has increased the import of coal from Afghanistan.
The decision was taken to cut the generation cost from the coal-based power plants as the coal imported from other parts of the world was more expensive vis-à-vis Afghan coal.
