The current account deficit decreased by 46% to $2.82 billion during the first four months (July-October) of the current fiscal year, compared to $5.3 billion reported during the same period last year, according to the data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

A steady reduction in imports helped reduce the current account deficit over the first four months of fiscal year 2022–23, it said.

After declining for three straight months, the current account deficit increased in October to $0.56 billion from $.0.3 billion in September.

The current account deficit decreased by a historic 68% year over year to $0.567 billion in October 2022 from $1.78 billion in the same month of the previous year.

The exports of goods climbed from $9.56 billion in July-October 2021–22 to $9.8 billion in the same time period of the current fiscal year. On the other hand, imports of goods dropped from $23.32 billion to $20.6 billion over the time period under consideration.

Additionally, the overall trade deficit decreased from $13.75 billion in the first four months of the previous fiscal year to $10.8 billion in the same period of fiscal year 2022–23. In a similar manner, the trade imbalance in services also decreased to $812 million from $1.3 billion in the same period the year before.

In July-October 2022–2023, the primary income deficit decreased to $1.46 billion from $1.5 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The combined deficit of goods, services, and primary income decreased as well, falling to $13.1 billion from $16.6 billion in the same period last year. Additionally, worker remittances decreased throughout the time under study, falling to $9.1 billion from $10.8 billion in July-October 2021–2022, the SBP said.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk