Pharmaceutical imports clock-in at $3b in 6 months

KARACHI: The pharmaceutical imports, including Covid vaccines surged 475 per cent to $3 billion during the first six months of the current fiscal year, compared with $539 million in the same period of the last year, according to the data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

“The government is currently importing Covid-19 vaccines under a financing agreement with the international donors. We believe that the medicinal import bill in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will be lower since there was no cash outflow,” Fayyaz Husain at Sherman Securities said.

The Covid-19 has significantly altered the landscape of the pharmaceutical sector in the last two years. Measures taken by the government to vaccinate population during 2021 yielded positive results with Covid cases recording a significant decline in recent months.

Analysts at JS Global Capital believe that the pharmaceutical sector is rightly placed in taking advantage of the new opportunities, resulting from an increased emphasis on healthcare and development of vaccines.

Listed pharmaceutical sector has posted a 12 per cent growth in revenues in the last one year, as economic activity revived in the country.

The pharmaceutical sector remained operational and available throughout the lockdown era, but the demand was mainly high for drugs related to the Covid-19 as opposed to the regular prescription drugs, which witnessed a lower demand.

Similarly, the export companies also faced dampened sales during the last 12 months due to a dull demand from Afghanistan.

As per the latest Finance Act (Supplementary) Bill 2021, the sector has been placed under zero rating and the sales tax paid on input would be refundable and if the refunds are not made within seven days, the same would be eligible for adjustment against the tax liability of the company, as per the new directive.

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