Current account witnesses surplus for 4th consecutive month

The Current Account Deficit has been reduced by more than 85% as the current account recorded a surplus of $334 million in June 2023, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar told media in Islamabad on Tuesday that the country witnessed a Current Account Surplus (CAS) of $334 million during the month of June 2023 against the deficit of $2,321 million during the same month of last year.

The minister said that this was for the fourth consecutive month that Pakistan has been witnessing a surplus in the current account owing to the proper management of the economy.

He said the total Current Account Deficit (CAD) declined to $2.56 billion during the fiscal year 2022-23, which is 14.65 percent of the deficit of US$17.48 billion recorded during the fiscal year 2021-22.

He said it was due to good management by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that the country did not default, adding the incumbent government not only fulfilled all its sovereign commitments but also left no chance for the country’s default.

https://twitter.com/MIshaqDar50/status/1681230594104233992

He congratulated the prime minister, the economic team and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for the successful management of the country’s economy.

He said this was the reason and answer to those pundits who wondered why Pakistan was not defaulting. He said those pundits had left around $17 billion CAD last year and even $19 billion in past. He said we made all foreign payments on time.

“Pakistan is in the safe zone,” he remarked adding when Shehbaz Sharif assumed power, the country’s total reserves were between $14 and $15 billion.

Making all due sovereign payments would leave the country’s reserves at the same level when it completes its constitutional term.

The State Bank of Pakistan also tweeted about the Current Account Surplus.

https://twitter.com/StateBank_Pak/status/1681208729939881984

The service sector of Pakistan posed a trade deficit of $720 million in FY23, posting a significant drop of around 88% YoY as compared to $5.84bn in FY22, the latest data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed.

Similarly, the deficit narrowed by 87% YoY and 71.6% MoM to stand at $84mn in June 2023 compared to a deficit of $665mn in June 2022 and $296mn in May 2023, respectively.

Details made available by SBP revealed that the exports of services in FY23 increased by 2.77% YoY to $7.3bn compared to $7.1bn in FY22.