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Pakistan Posts Current Account Surplus in October

by Staff Report

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The country has a net positive current account balance for the fist time in four years, owing largely to cut in imports

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday praised his government for posting a $99 million current account surplus last month, adding that the country’s economy was moving in the right direction.

“Pakistan economy finally heading in right direction as more of our economic reforms bear fruit: Pak’s current account turned into surplus in Oct 2019, for first time in 4 yrs. Current account balance was +$99mn in Oct 2019 compared to -$284mn in Sept 2019 & -$1,280mn in Oct 2018,” he posted on Twitter. “For first 4 months of our fiscal year, our current account deficit has fallen by 73.5% compared to same period last fiscal year. Our exports of goods & services in Oct 2019 rose 20% over previous month and 9.6% over Oct 2018. I congratulate our exporters & encourage them to do more,” he added.

Khan was referring to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan, which shows the government has reduced the country’s current account deficit, bringing it for the first time in four years to a net positive of $99 million.

Pakistan’s current account deficit in the previous fiscal year stood at $12.75bn, a 36 percent reduction from $19.9bn two years ago. The net deficit in October 2018 was $1.28bn. According to SBP data, the reduction in the deficit was largely due to a sharp decrease in imports, which fell from $19bn to $14.65bn, while exports increased from $7.9bn to $8.22bn. The massive drop in imports has, however, raised concern among economic experts that it could slowdown overall economic activity and hurt the country’s Gross Domestic Product growth rate.

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