KARACHI: The current account deficit has been widened by 52 percent to $10.82 percent during July – February 2017/2018 as compared with the deficit of $7.21 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, according to balance of payment data released by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday.
The widening in gap is mainly attributed to rise in imports and lower growth in remittances and exports. Overseas Pakistani workers remitted $12.83 billion in the first eight months (July to February) of FY18, showing a growth of 3.41 percent compared with $12.41 billion received during the same period in the preceding year.
The exports during the first eight months were at $14.85 billion showing 11.62 percent growth when compared with $13.3 billion.
On the other hand imports grew by 17 percent to $39.09 billion during July – February 2017/2018 when compared with $33.39 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. The trade deficit widened by 20.7 percent to $24.25 billion as against the deficit of $20.08 billion.
