28/04/2010 (Pakwatan), Islamabad - The palm oil and soyabean oil imports into the country dropped by 10.75 percent and 87.64 percent respectively during the first nine months of current fiscal year as against the corresponding period of last year, helping the country reduce overall import bill.

The palm oil imports during July-March (2009-10) were recorded at $922.727 million against the imports of $1033.813 million during July-March (2008-09), according to data provided by Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS).

The soyabean oil imports during the period under review stood at $6.932 million against the imports of $56.067 million during last year, the data added.

However, the palm oil imports surge by 31.70 percent during March 2010 against the imports of February 2010. The palm oil imports during March stood at $140.865 million against the imports of $106.362 million in February 2010.

The soyabean oil import shrunk by 75.26 during March 2010 against the import of February 2010. The soyabean imports during March 2010 were recorded at $166 million against the imports of $671 million in February 2010.

As compared to the palm oil import of $113.526 million recorded during March 2009, the import of the commodity in March 2010 increased by 24.08 percent.

On the other hand, the soyabean oil imports witnessed negative growth of 99.02 during March 2010 when compared to the imports of 16.857 million during the same month of last year, the figures revealed.