Pakistan's current account deficit reached $7.08 billion in 2021-22
Current account deficit edged up $ 1.91 billion in November 2021
Pakistan’s current account deficit (the gap between foreign payments and inflows) has reached $7.08 billion in first five months of current financial year 2021-22. In November 2021, the current account deficit edged up to $1.91 billion. It was $1.76 billion in October 2021. The deficit in November was 8% higher than October.
The current
account balance recorded a surplus of $563 million in the same period of last
year, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported on Monday.
The data
showed during the first five months of the current fiscal year 2021-22, the
country’s deficit reached $7.08 billion compared with a surplus of $1.86
billion during the same period last year.
The central
bank wrote on Twitter: “Current account deficit widened slightly to $1.91
billion in November from $1.76 billion in October as imports outstripped strong
exports and robust remittances.”
It further
added that imports were mainly lifted by high international commodity prices in
addition to strong domestic economic recovery.
According to
the post-data commentary by Arif Habib Limited on a year-on-year basis, the
primary reason behind the deficit was a 57% year-on-year increase in total
imports to $7.3 billion.
However, the
brokerage house added that total exports and remittances also increased by 20%
and 1% year-on-year, respectively.
During
November, the balance of trade in goods recorded a 103% increase in deficit
year-on-year; while for the services the deficit surged by 408% on a
year-on-year basis.
Pakistan
exported goods worth $2.71 billion compared to the imports worth $6.42 billion,
while the value of exports of services clocked in at $583 million compared to
$832 million in November last year.
Last week,
SBP Governor Dr Reza Baqir had said that the current account deficit is
expected to increase for the next two months and will then decrease gradually.
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