Observer Report
Lahore
Pakistan Businesses Forum (PBF) has urged the government to focus on further boosting exports and remittances as the trade deficit expanded by 14.70pc to $2.06 billion in November.
President PBF Mian Usman Zulfiqar said on Sunday that imports that were previously on a declining path have now started picking up, indicating the growing economic activities but at the same time signalling the widening of the trade deficit too which is not good for the economy.
He stated that the Finance and Commerce divisions were boasting of their performance on the plea of current account balance, which has witnessed a surplus for the fourth consecutive month in October, rising to $382 million.
It is to be noted that back in Sept 2020 the current account had remained in surplus for the third month in a row at $73 million, making history with a 17-year high surplus in the July-Sept quarter compared to a deficit of $1,492 million of last year’s same time on the back of 29Ppc rise in exports and 9pc improvement in remittances.
“But it should be kept in mind that the surplus emerged on the back of a sustained increase in remittances and a smaller trade deficit, as since the start of this fiscal year in July, the cumulative current account surplus has reached $1.2 billion, reversing the $1.4bn deficit recorded in the same period last year,” the PBF President said.
He said that the country’s current account has been helped by a significant increase in remittances during the current fiscal year. So far, in the four-month period from July to October, total inflows of remittances have risen to $9.43 billion against $7.45 billion in the same period last year.
Mian Usman Zulfiqar said, “To achieve consistency in current account surplus for a long period without compromising industrial growth the government will have to focus on increasing the exports and put the business and trade issues on priority, otherwise, the economic problems.
