Pakistan's current account showed a surplus of $12 million in April compared to a surplus of $315 million in the same month in the previous year.
According to State Bank of Pakistan data released on Friday, in 10 months of the current fiscal year, the current account posted a surplus of $1.88 billion compared to deficit of $1.34 billion in 10 months of the previous year.
The current account remained in surplus during April despite expectations of deficit as, according to Pakistan Bureau Statistics, goods exports were $2.1 billion in April, while SBP recorded exports of $2.6 billion during the same month.
The total trade deficit reported by PBS was $3.388 billion, while SBP reported $2.6 billion.
In its meeting on May 5, the SBP's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) observed that on balance, supported by robust workers’ remittances, the current account would remain in surplus during FY25.
The MPC observed that the net financial inflows have remained weak till March mainly due to large debt repayments and delays in the realization of official inflows. Nonetheless, on the back of the expected realization of planned official inflows, the MPC expects SBP’s foreign exchange reserves to rise to $14 billion by June.
Going forward, the MPC expects this build-up in foreign exchange reserves to continue in FY26, based on a moderate current account deficit and improved financial inflows. At the same time, the MPC cautioned that this outlook is subject to risks, particularly those emanating from uncertain global economic and trade environment.
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