KARACHI: Pakistan’s current account deficit narrowed by 29.44 percent during first nine-months (July-March) of current fiscal year owing to falling imports and improved foreign remittances.
The current account deficit narrowed to $9.58 billion during first nine months of current fiscal year as compared with deficit of $13.589 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, according to Balance of Payment (BOP) details issued by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday
Pakistan’s trade deficit was contracted by 13.02 percent during first nine months (July – March) 2018/2019 due to significant decline in import bill in the same period.
The trade deficit shrank to $23.67 billion during first nine months of current fiscal year as compared with the deficit of $27.21 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
The import bill during the first nine months was declined by 8 percent to $40.75 billion as compared with $44.28 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.
However, growth in exports was remained flat. The exports were at $17.08 billion during the period under review as compared with $17.06 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.
The import bill sharply declined by 21 percent in the month of March 2019 to $4.15 billion as compared with $5.25 billion in the same month of the last fiscal year.
On the other hand overseas Pakistani workers have remitted $16.1 billion during first nine months (July – March) 2018/2019 as compared with $14.8 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year, showing 8.74 percent growth.
During March 2019, the inflow of worker’s remittances amounted to US $1745.80 million, which is 10.73 percent higher than February 2019 and 3.20 percent lower than March 2018.
