Ramadan is expected to begin in the third week of February. Although the trading season for Ramadan commodities is approaching, imports of all essential items have not increased at the same pace.

While imports of chickpeas, lentils (masur dal) and sugar are relatively satisfactory in view of Ramadan demand, imports of edible oil and peas remain comparatively low.

To date, imports of dates amount to only about one-third of the estimated Ramadan requirement.

This picture emerges from an analysis of essential commodity import data over the past two and a half months (1 November to 18 January) obtained from the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

In addition to goods already cleared through seaports and land ports during this period, Ramadan-related commodities are also present in the import pipeline.