Trade deficit reduced due to prudent policies: Finance Minister

April 5, 2019: Finance Minister Asad Umar has said trade and current account deficit have reduced as a result of prudent economic policies of the government.

Talking to media persons in Islamabad on Friday afternoon, he said trade deficit has declined from 24.2 to 21.5 billion dollars and current account deficit came down from 11.4 to 8.5 billion dollars in the last eight months.    

Asad Umar said current account deficit reduced by 72 per cent. He said balance of payment has also decreased.

The Finance Minister said the government is aware of the inflation, but it is too less than it was during first eight months of the PPP and the PML-N regimes.

Regarding Foreign Direct Investment, he said in first seven months of the PML-N government FDI was 573 million dollars, which is 1441 million dollars in the same period of the PTI government. Public debt was 3.7 billion dollars in the last six months of the PML-N government, which is 1.7 billion dollars in the first six months of the PTI administration.

Asad Umar said consumption of petrol, gas, and electricity have also increased.