Pakistan’s current account posted a surplus of over $900 million during the first nine months of the fiscal year.
According to the data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the current account built a record surplus value of $959 million during the period of July to March 2020-21 as compared to the huge deficit of $4.1 billion recorded in the similar period of the last financial year.
In the outgoing month of March 2021, the current account posted a marginal deficit of $47 million. The deficit was reported due to the record level of import bill of goods which stood at $5.22 billion whereas the import bill of services remained under control at $628 million.
On the other hand, the exports of goods and services also stood high at $2.64 billion and $564 million in the month of March 2021. Remittances, the strong and consistent support of overseas Pakistanis, also exhibited a phenomenal contribution with record inflows of $2.72 billion.
In Mar 21, the current account posted a marginal deficit of $47 mn. On a cumulative basis, it remains in surplus of around $1 bn in Jul-Mar FY21 against a deficit of $4.1 bn in Jul-Mar FY20. See data at: https://t.co/Od8ikVvpBF pic.twitter.com/SkMsvZFmrN
— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) April 23, 2021
During the period of July to March, the trade deficit of goods and services stood at $20.01 billion which is 7 percent higher than the previous financial year. The remittances, on the other hand, maintained a surplus of 26.2% or $4.4 billion, which actually made a difference towards a sustainable surplus value in the current account.
With the remaining three months to conclude the financial year, the current account likely to remain in the surplus making a historical record.
Current account surplus coupled with the inflows of foreign exchange in terms of the tranche of IMF or Euro Bonds portrayed a comfortable situation of external account for the country despite the scheduled repayment of debts to various foreign banks and agencies.
The value of the Rupee is volatile against the Dollar but it remains within a range-bound limit, thereby favorable to the economy.
Account surplus is not an indicator for growing economy. It is good for Baabus only who are misguiding Imran Khan with these numbers. Imran Khan and top ministers have no idea about economy and government officials are making a fool out of an already foolish Khan. Our imports of Machinery, Chemicals and Agri products has crashed in recent months. This simply means that industry is no longer investing in expansion and also FDI is at the lowest level. This indicates that economy is rapidly slowing down and no new jobs are being created.