Pakistan's current account deficit shrinks to $0.7 billion in August

Islamabad: The current account deficit shrank to $0.7 billion in August compared to $1.2 billion in July 2022, largely reflecting a continued moderation in overall imports, a data released by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.

Cumulatively, in Jul-Aug of current fiscal year (FY23), Current Account Deficit (CAD) declined by $0.5 billion to $1.9 billion compared to the same period last year mainly due to increase in exports by $0.5 billion and contraction in imports by $0.2 billion.

According to the data, the exports of goods rose from US$ 2.34 billion in August 2021 to $2.81 billion in same month of current fiscal year. The imports of goods decreased from $5.96 billion to $5.75 billion in the month under review.

The overall trade deficit also shrank to $2.94 billion as compared to the deficit of $3.63 billion in August 2021.

Similarly the trade deficit in services, also shrank to $361 million in August as compared to the deficit of $388 million in same month of previous year.

Deficit of primary income declined to $168 million in August 2022 as compared to $377 million in same month of the previous year.

The combined deficit of goods, services, and primary income also declined to $3.3 billion in the corresponding month while during same month of last year, the deficit was recorded at $4.016 billion.

Workers’ remittances increased to $2.724 billion against $2.68 billion in August 2021.