KARACHI: The current account deficit narrowed by 29 percent during first eleven months owing to shrinking trade deficit and improved foreign remittances.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) released Balance of Payment (BoP) statistics on Wednesday, which showed the current account deficit shrank to $12.678 billion during July – May 2018/2019 as compared with the deficit of $17.926 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
The trade deficit reduced by 13.62 percent to $29.20 billion during first eleven months of current fiscal year as compared with the deficit of $33.81 billion in the same months of the last fiscal year.
The import bill for the period fell by 8.47 percent to $50.47 billion as against $55.142 billion in July – May 2017/2018. The exports, however, are remained flat at $21.26 billion as against $21.33 billion.
Meanwhile, the inflows of remittances sent home by overseas Pakistanis grew by 10.42 percent to $20.19 billion during July – May 2018/2018 as compared with $18.28 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.