November 18, 2024 (MLN): Pakistan's current account has posted a surplus for the third consecutive month driven by robust growth in remittances and exports, which more than offset the increase in imports.
The gap in current account, the broadest measure of trade and investment, showed a surplus of $349 million in October, the latest data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) revealed today.
Last month, the country recorded a current account surplus of $86m, while in October, 2023 the current account deficit stood at $287m.
On a cumulative basis, the current account surplus in 4MFY25 was recorded at $218m, compared to the deficit of $1.53 billion in 4MFY24.
During October, total exports rose by 11.5% to $3.71bn compared to $3.33bn in the same month of last year. While it rose 12.6% as against the exports of $3.3bn in the previous month.
Total imports rose 6.9% to $5.56bn as compared to the imports worth $5.2bn recorded in October of last year. Compared to the previous month, imports fell 1.0%.
Accordingly, the trade deficit in goods and services fell 1.2% from a year ago to $1.85bn. On a monthly basis, it narrowed 20.4%.
Cumulatively, the trade deficit in 4MFY25 was recorded at $9.32bn, a rise of 15.0% when compared to the deficit of $8.1bn in 4MFY24.
During the first 4 months of current fiscal year, exports rose 8.5% to $13.11bn compared to $12.08bn in the same period last year.
Imports rose 11.1% to $22.43bn in 4MFY25 compared to $20.18bn in the same period last year.
The data further details that the workers' remittances in October increased by 23.9% to $3.05bn as against $2.46bn in October 2023; while on a monthly basis, the remittances went up by 6.7% as compared to $2.86bn in the previous month.
Cumulatively in 4MFY25, workers' remittances were recorded at $11.85bn as compared to $8.8bn in 4MFY24, depicting a rise of 34.7%.
