Current account posts $662 million deficit in December

KARACHI: The balance of payment of the country registered a current account deficit of $662 million in December 2020 after posting a surplus for five consecutive months, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Wednesday.

However, the balance of payment for the first half of the fiscal year 2020/2021 posted a current account surplus of $1.13 billion as compared with a deficit of $2.032 billion in the same half of the last fiscal year.

The balance of trade in goods posted a deficit of $11.40 billion during the first half of the current fiscal year as compared with the deficit of $9.74 billion.

The balance of trade in services posted a deficit of $977 million during July – December of the current fiscal year as compared with the deficit of $1.69 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.

The balance of primary income posted a deficit of $2.73 billion during the half under review as compared with the deficit of $3.15 billion in the same half of the last fiscal year.

The inflow of workers remittances grew to $14.2 billion during July – December 2020/2021 as compared with $11.73 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.