Pakistan's current account deficit widens to record high of $2.6 billion

Karachi: Pakistan’s current account deficit widened to a 13-year high of $2.6 billion in January 2022 in the wake of a surge in import payments due to rising commodity prices in the international market, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said in a tweet on Thursday. 

This was the highest-ever monthly current account deficit. The last time the figure was this high was back in October 2008 when it was $2.03bn.

According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the current account deficit of the country has risen to $2.6 billion in January 2022 from $1.9 billion in December 2021.

The current account deficit rose to $2.6bn in Jan22 from $1.9bn in Dec21, largely due to imports in kind that are fully financed. Excluding these, the deficit would have been around $1bn lower in Jan22. For details, see https://t.co/Od8ikVvpBF pic.twitter.com/pJEzuYG1Go

— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) February 24, 2022

Taking to its official Twitter account, the bank account noted that the change has taken place largely due to imports in kind that are fully financed.

“Excluding these, the deficit would have been around $1 billion lower in January 2022,” the SBP wrote.