Pakistan’s current account deficit shrank by 60% to $3.66 billion during the first half of the current fiscal compared to $9.1 billion in the corresponding period of the previous financial year, WealthK reports. According to the data released by the State Bank of Pakistan, after posting a decline for five consecutive months, the country’s current account deficit edged up to $0.4 billion in December 2022 against $0.252 billion in November 2022.

On a year-on-year basis, the current account deficit posted a record decline of 78% and went down to $0.4 billion in December 2022 from $1.86 billion in the same month of the previous year. According to the data, the exports of goods decreased from $15.24 billion in the first half of the previous financial year to $14.2 billion in the same period of the current fiscal. On the other hand, the imports of goods also fell from $36.1 billion to $29.5 billion in the period under review.

The overall trade deficit also shrank to $15.6 billion in the first six months of the ongoing financial year compared to $23 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal. Similarly, the trade deficit in services also shrank to $357 million in the first half of the current fiscal compared to $2.1 billion in the same period of the previous year. The deficit of primary income increased to $2.6 billion during the six months of the ongoing fiscal compared to $2.5 billion in the same period of the previous financial year.

The combined deficit of goods, services and primary income also declined to $18.2 billion from $25.5 billion in the first six months of the previous year. The remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis also posted a decline during the period under review as it went down to $14.05 billion from $15.8 billion in the corresponding months of the previous fiscal, according to the data available with WealthPK.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk