KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday said that current account deficit has contracted by 60 per cent to $3.66 billion in first half (July – December) of fiscal year 2022-2023.
The current account deficit was $9.09 billion in the same half of the last fiscal year.
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Contraction in current account deficit may be attributed to massive decline in import bill of the country during the period under review. The import bill plunged by 23 per cent to $31.38 billion during first half of the current fiscal year as compared with $40.56 billion in the corresponding half of the last fiscal year, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
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However, the exports also exhibited decline of 6 per cent to $14.25 billion during the half under review as compared with $15.13 billion in the same half of the preceding fiscal year.
The massive decline in import bills sharply narrowed the trade deficit during the period under review. The trade deficit narrowed by 33 per cent to $17.13 billion during July – December of fiscal year 2022-2023 when compared with the deficit of $25.44 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
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On the other hand, the inflow of workers remittances declined by 11 per cent in first half (July – December) of fiscal year 2022-2023.
The SBP received $14.05 billion during first half of the current fiscal year as compared with inflow of $15.81 billion in the corresponding half of the last fiscal year.
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The current account deficit for the month of December 2022 recorded $400 million as compared with deficit of $1.86 billion in December 2021 and deficit of $252 million in November 2022.
The country recorded current account deficit at $17.41 billion in the fiscal year 2021-2022.