The country’s imports have been steadily declining, which has resulted in the current account deficit reducing to $0.57 billion in October 2022.
Data from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) show that the current account deficit was $1.77 billion in October of last year and $0.36 billion in September of the year before. During the first four months of FY23, the imports continued to drop, which contributed to a reduction in the current account deficit (CAD).
With imports down $2.7 billion (11.6 percent) and exports up $0.2 billion (2.6 percent) from the same period in 2021, the current account deficit for the period of July to October 2022 was $2.8 billion as opposed to the $5.3 billion reported in the same period of the previous financial year.
In terms of goods and services, the nation’s trade deficit decreased to $11 billion during the aforementioned time period from the $15 billion reported the previous year. Due to the global economic slowdown, which also affected Pakistanis living abroad in many host countries, remittance inflows, which provide a significant boost to the current account, decreased to $9.9 billion from July to October 2022, down from $10.8 billion during the same period in the previous year.
In order to reduce the current account deficit in the future, the country’s economic managers need not only sustain the dropping trends in the import bill but also launch novel efforts to resurrect inflows through exports and remittances.
1/2 CAD was $ 0.57 billion in Oct 2022 against a deficit of $0.36 billion in Sep 2022. Continuous decline in imports helped improve the Current Account Deficit (CAD) during first four months of FY23. pic.twitter.com/SgkolTu4GV
— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) November 21, 2022
