Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The lockdown currently imposed around the world has affected the balance of payment in the country as it is reflected in the March, 2020 data in which the current account deficit shrank by 99 percent to $06 million as compared to $823 million in same month of the previous year.
On average, the deficit declined by 73.1 percent as it fell to $2.768 billion in first nine months (Jul-March) of the year 2019-20 as compared to deficit of $10.284 billion in the same period of last year, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported.
The details show that current account balance without official transfers shrank to $3.15 billion in the corresponding period against $10.8 billion in the same period of last year, showing a decline of 71 percent.
Balance of trade in goods also plunged by 31 percent from $14.68 billion in July-March 2018-19 to $21.261 billion in July-January this year. Similarly, balance of trade in services also narrowed by 30 percent to $2.44 billion as compared to $3.488 billion.
