KARACHI: The current account deficit swelled 136 per cent year-on-year to $1.368 billion during the first quarter of this fiscal year, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.
The is alarming for the country which has record foreign exchange reserves of over $24bn while the inflows of overseas workers’ remittances are still healthy despite an annual decline of 5pc.
Exports fell 5.1pc to $5.042bn during the July-September quarter from $5.313bn a year earlier. But the size of current account deficit is much more than the trade deficit which indicates that the inflows from other sources are drying up.
The current account is the broadest measure of trade, covering not only the flow of goods and services but also investment flows. The current account deficit reflects Pakistan’s trade gap with the rest of the world and the shortfall between money paid out by the country and money coming in.
Exports are in decline for the last few years, becoming a major reason for shortage of inflows. They stood at $21.97bn during the fiscal year 2015-16 and at $24bn in 2014-15.
