Country's current account in surplus for second consecutive month

KARACHI: The country’s Current Account Balance (CAB) posted a cumulative surplus of $805 million during the first two months of the ongoing fiscal year, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) revealed on Wednesday.

The central bank said the current account remained in a surplus in August for the second consecutive month, due to “an impressive growth in workers’ remittances and lower import payment.”

The current account surplus rose to $508 million and $296 million in July and August 2020, respectively.

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Cumulatively, the CAB reached a surplus of $805 million during July-August FY2020-21 as against a deficit of $1.2 billion in the same period last year. “Efforts to attract workers’ remittances, flexible exchange rate and relatively benign import prices explain the improving current account balance,” the SBP tweeted.

2/2 Cumulatively CAB reached a surplus of $805 mn during Jul-Aug FY21 compared to a deficit of $1.2 bn in the same period last year. Efforts to attract workers’ remittances, flexible exchange rate and relatively benign import prices explain the improving current account balance.

— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) September 23, 2020

On September 14, the SBP had said remittances from overseas Pakistanis rose by 24.4 per cent to $2.095 billion during August as compared to last year’s corresponding period.

According to figures released by the central bank, remittances reached an unprecedented level of $7.3 billion over the last three months, which are 37.2 per cent higher than the same period last year.