May 22, 2019 (MLN): Pakistan’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed considerably by 27% to $12.07 billion in first ten months (July-April) of the current fiscal year mainly due to drop in imports and a noticeable rise in worker remittances by 8.45% during the period.
According to the latest data released by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Balance of Payments (BOP), the imports of goods declined by 5% to $44 billion and imports of services declined by 19% to $3.2 billion during Jul-April FY19, balance on trade in goods and services thus fell by 12% to $27.15 billion compared to $ 30.8 billion in Jul- April 2018.
On monthly basis, CAD increased by 42% to $1.2 billion against $0.87 billion in March 2019. The major components that contributed in increasing CAD is the deficit in primary income which amplified by 40% to $4.4 billion and imports of services which increased by 15% to stand at $887 million.
On the other hand, the deficit in secondary income declined by 2% over the month as SBP recorded the figure at $1.9 billion in April 2019, against $1.95 billion previous month.
On quarterly basis, the CAD dropped by 56% in Jan-Mar 2019 to $ 2 billion from $4.5 billion in the previous quarter.
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