KARACHI – Pakistan’s current account deficit has decreased to $0.24 billion following a staggering drop in imports in January this year.
The State Bank of Pakistan on Monday shared new data as the local currency of crisis hit Pakistan has lost more than one-fourth of its value against the greenback post artificial caps removal.
In its data, the country’s central bank said Pakistan recorded a current account deficit amounting to $3.799 billion in Jul-Jan FY23 compared to $11.558 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year, a difference of $7.75 billion.
Current Account Deficit (CAD) recorded $ 0.2 billion in Jan 2023 against a deficit of $2.5 billion in Jan 2022. https://t.co/q3LNv3HgLshttps://t.co/Od8ikVvpBF pic.twitter.com/C3v9k4pZDb
— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) February 20, 2023
SBP flagged a decline in total imports as the key reason behind the massive decline in the deficit. It added that total exports and remittances are also affected by 7 percent YoY and 13 percent YoY.
Pakistan’s current account deficit (CAD) shrank as a country of over 220 million restricted imports, while the business community was facing issues related to the opening of letters of credit for a variety of sectors.
The foreign exchange reserves plunged to alarming levels, at less than a month of import cover while the government is engaged in talks with the US-based global lender for the resumption of the stalled bailout package.
