July 18, 2023 (MLN): The current account surplus for the month of June 2023 witnessed an uptick of 30.82% MoM to stand at $334 million compared to the surplus of $220m in May 2023, the latest data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) revealed today.
To note, this was the fourth consecutive current account surplus recorded.
While the same month last year, the country recorded a current account deficit of $2.321 billion.
Within 12MFY23, the current account deficit reduced to $2.557bn compared to the deficit of $17.481bn in the same period last year, shrinking by 85.37% YoY.
The trade deficit in goods narrowed by around 73.86% YoY while on a monthly basis, the balance of trade in goods decreased by 8.66% MoM to $1.06bn in June 2023 as the export of goods declined by 32.04% YoY and 18.29% MoM.
On the other hand, the negative trade balance in services narrowed significantly by 71.62% MoM and 87.37% YoY to clock in at $84 million.
Last year in June, the trade balance in services witnessed a deficit of $665m.
Furthermore, the worker’s remittances fell by 21.72% YoY while on a monthly basis, the remittances inched by 3.85% MoM to $2.18bn.
On a cumulative basis during 12MFY23, remittances by overseas Pakistanis moved down by 13.6% YoY to $27.02bn from $31.28bn recorded in the same period last year.
Federal Finance Minister of Finance and Revenue Muhammad Ishaq Dar stated, “the annual deficit for FY23 was $2.6bn, only 14.65% of FY22’s $17.5bn. This is how we avoided defaulting on our debts.”
