January 17, 2024 (MLN): Pakistan has recorded a current account surplus of $397 million largely due to a decline in imports and an increase in exports, the latest data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) revealed today.
This stands in contrast to the deficits of $15m in November and $365m in December 2022.
This positive current account balance comes after five consecutive months of deficits, with the last reported surplus dating back to June 2023.
Total exports rose by 5.1% MoM and 14.15% YoY to $3.53bn as compared to the total exports of $3.36bn in the previous month and $3.09bn in the same month of last year.
Moreover, total imports fell by 6.13% MoM and 0.14% YoY to $4.97bn as compared to the imports worth $5.3bn recorded in November and $4.98bn recorded in December of last year.
Meanwhile, on a cumulative basis, the current account deficit in the first half of FY24 was recorded at $831 million, showing a significant improvement of 77.1% YoY when compared to the deficit of $3.63bn in 1HFY23.
Furthermore, the workers' remittances in the month of December increased by 5.4% MoM to $2.38bn as compared to $2.26bn in the previous month; while on a yearly basis, the remittances went up by 13.38% YoY as it stood at $2.1bn in December 2022.
Cumulatively in 1HFY24, workers' remittances were recorded at $13.44bn as compared to $14.42bn in 1HFY23, depicting a fall of 6.82% YoY.
