Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday that Pakistan’s economy was heading in the right direction as the country’s current account balance recorded a surplus of $73 million.
The current account – the difference between the government’s foreign income and expenditure – was in surplus of $73 mn during Sept, the PM revealed.
This brought the surplus for 1st [quarter] to $792 mn compared to a deficit of $1,492 mn during the same time last [year], the premier tweeted terming it great news for Pakistan.
He revealed that the growth was a result of exports growing 29 percent and remittances increasing 9 percent over the previous month.
Great news for Pakistan. We are headed in right direction finally. Current Account was in surplus of $73 mn during Sept, bringing surplus for 1st qtr to $792 mn compared to deficit of $1,492 mn during same time last yr. Exports grew 29% & remittances grew 9% over previous month.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 21, 2020
In August, PM revealed that after the current account balance posted a deficit of $613 mn in July 2019; a deficit of $100 mn in July 2020 the current account balance swung upwards to a surplus of $424 mn.
The premier added that the strong turnaround resulted because of a continuing recovery in exports. As it rose 20 percent compared to June 2020, and record remittances.
In June, it was reported that after a gap of seven months, Pakistan’s current account balance once again turned into a surplus of $13 million in May 2020 but at the expense of economic growth.
“The surplus primarily achieved after Pakistan’s export earnings dropped to a 13-year low at $1.27 billion. The import payments fell to a 10-year low at $2.8 billion in May,” BMA Capital Executive Director Saad Hashmi said.
The slowdown in imports and exports clearly indicated a significant drop in economic activities. It is a great achievement in response to the coronavirus pandemic, he said.
Besides, improvement in the receipt of workers’ remittances, the decline in a trade deficit of services. An increase in other current transfers helped to turn the current account balance into a surplus from a deficit.
Pakistan achieved a current account surplus of $13 million in May. A deficit of $530 million in the previous month of April; $1 billion in May 2019, the State Bank of Pakistan reported.