Pakistan records $682m current account surplus in seven months

KARACHI: Pakistan has achieved a significant milestone in its economic journey, recording a current account surplus of US$682 million during the first seven months of the current fiscal year (2024-25), ARY News reported citing the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

According to the central bank, the current account surplus of US$682 million from July 2024 to January 205 marks a substantial improvement from the same period last year, which saw a deficit of over $1.8 billion.

According to the SBP, in January 2025, the current account deficit stood at $420 million, compared to a surplus of $474 million in December 2024.

Despite the deficit in January, the country’s imports increased by 11 percent to $5.45 billion, while exports declined by 4 percent to $2.94 billion. The trade deficit for January surged by 37 percent to $2.51 billion, while the deficit in trade, services, and income increased by 26 percent to $3.56 billion.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a bullish trend as the KSE-100 index gained 1344 points on Monday.

The 100-Index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned around to a bullish trend on Tuesday, gaining 1,344.95 points, a positive change of 1.20 percent, closing at 113,088.48 points as compared to 111,743.53 points on the last trading day.

A total of 545 million shares were traded during the day as compared to 511.194 million shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs20.741 billion against Rs19.635 billion on the last trading day.

Analysts at Topline Securities said that the increase was primarily driven by LUCK, ENGRO, OGDC, EFERT, and PPL, which together contributed 608 points to the overall gain.

They said, “The KSE 100 index experienced a pullback and ended on a positive note. The index reached a high of 113,253 points, dipped to an intraday low of 111,642 points, and closed at 113,088 points, gaining 1,345 points or 1.20%”.