Current account posts $75m surplus in Aug

September 18, 2024 (MLN): Pakistan has recorded a current account surplus of $75 million, the latest data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) revealed today.

Last month, the country recorded a current account deficit of $246m, while in August, 2023 the current account deficit stood at $152m.

On a cumulative basis, the current account deficit in 2MFY25 was recorded at $171m, showing an improvement of 80.9% when compared to the deficit of $893m in 2MFY24.

During August, total exports rose by 0.9% to $3.11bn compared to $3.08bn in the same month of last year. While it rose 3.4% as against the exports of $3.01bn in the previous month.

Total imports rose 9.7% to $5.62bn as compared to the imports worth $5.12bn recorded in August of last year. Compared to the previous month, imports fell 0.5%.

Accordingly, the trade deficit in goods and services rose 23.1% from a year ago to $2.51bn. On a monthly basis, it narrowed 4.9%.

Cumulatively, the trade deficit in 2MFY25 was recorded at $5.14bn, a rise of 19.0% when compared to the deficit of $4.32bn in 2MFY24.

During the first two months of current fiscal year, exports rose 5.7% from a year ago to $6.12bn compared to $5.79bn in the same period last year.

Imports rose 11.4% to $11.26bn in 2MFY25 compared to $10.11bn in the same period last year.

The data further details that the workers' remittances in August increased by 40.5% to $2.94bn as against $2.1bn in August 2023; while on a monthly basis, the remittances went down by 1.7% as compared to $3bn in the previous month.

Cumulatively in 2MFY25, workers' remittances were recorded at $5.94bn as compared to $4.12bn in 2MFY24, depicting a rise of 44.0%.

(This story was corrected to show only August numbers in first paragraph instead of cumulative Jul-Aug deficit of $171m)

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