KARACHI: Pakistan’s current account deficit ballooned to $9.1 billion during first half (July – December) 2021/2022 as compared with a surplus of $1.25 billion in the corresponding half of the last fiscal year, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Saturday.
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The significant current account deficit was due to sharp rise in import bill. The country’s import bill sharply increased by 66.23 per cent to $40.65 billion during first half (July – December) 2021/2022 as compared with $24.45 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.
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Meanwhile, the exports of the country also increased by 25 per cent to $15.127 billion during the period under review as compared with $12.11 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said.
This resulted in massive widening of trade deficit of 107 per cent to $25.52 billion during July – December 2021/2022 as compared with the deficit of $12.34 billion in the corresponding half of the last fiscal year.
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Remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis have increased by 11.26 per cent to $15.8 billion during the first half (July – December) of the fiscal year 2021/2022. The inflow of remittances was $14.2 billion in the same half of the last fiscal year.
