Pakistan's current account deficit dips 81pc during July-May 2022-23

Country sees huge reduction in imports; records $255m surplus in May

KARACHI (Web Desk) – The latest figures released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed that the country had a surplus of $255 million in May 2023 compared to $1,506 million deficit in the corresponding month last year.

When it comes to the first 11 months [July-May] of the current fiscal year, the current account deficit (CAD) had shrunk by 80.58 per cent to just $2.943 billion $15.16 billion in the corresponding period of 2021-22.

Current Account Balance recorded a surplus of US$ 255 million during May 2023 compared to US$ 78 million in April 2023.https://t.co/q3LNv3HOB0https://t.co/Od8ikVvXrd#SBPBOP pic.twitter.com/m8YRpsPCES

— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) June 19, 2023

Similarly, the central bank said that the figures for May marked a huge jump when compared to April, previous month, when the surplus was recorded at $78 million.

The huge reduction in CAD was made possible by a smaller import bill – $49bn – against $64.3bn last financial year. It was a result of the government took regulatory steps to curb the imports to reduce the pressure on external account.

However, Pakistan also witnessed a 13pc decline in exports to $25.7 billion in July-May 2022-23 when compared to the level of $29.6bn in the last fiscal year’s corresponding period.

But the exports increased to $2.594bn in May 2023 against $2.101bn in April, while the imports stood at $3.788bn when compared to the previous month’s figures of $3.677bn.