Pakistan reports current account surplus of $654 in Mar 2023

Islamabad: The Current Account Balance (CAB) of Pakistan posted a massive surplus of $654 million in Mar 2023 against a deficit of $36 million in Feb 2023, ARY News reported on Wednesday, citing the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) statement.

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday announced that Pakistan’s current account surplus of $654 million in March 2023 against the deficit of $36 million in February 2023, Cumulatively Current Account Deficit (CAD) reduced to $3.4 billion in Jul-Mar FY23 against a deficit of $13.0 billion in Jul-Mar FY22.

Current Account Balance (CAB) recorded $654 million surplus in Mar 2023 against a deficit of $36 million in Feb 2023. Cumulatively CAD reduced to $3.4 billion in Jul-Mar FY23 against a deficit of $13.0 billion in Jul-Mar FY22.https://t.co/q3LNv3HOB0 https://t.co/Od8ikVvXrd pic.twitter.com/RNYyFCJeZJ

— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) April 19, 2023

According to the State Bank, the current account deficit in the previous fiscal year was $13.01 billion, which indicates that Pakistan’s current account situation has improved significantly in the current fiscal year.

Earlier in the day, the incumbent finance minister claimed that by receiving a commitment from the UAE for extending a loan of $1 billion Pakistan has come very close to clinching the staff-level agreement with the IMF.

It is widely believed that Pakistani economic policymakers are not really cognisant of the width of the $350 billion Pakistani economy that is now struggling to cope with the mounting structural issues.

Pakistani economy however has fallen so badly that the assistance fatigue was clearly manifest as in the last few years China, Saudi Arabia and UAE have already placed $9 billion deposits with Pakistan’s central bank and this amount was quickly consumed and Pakistan is now seeking rollovers every year.

This situation is indicative of the fact that international lenders are getting tougher by the day as was evident by the IMF having asked Pakistan to arrange $6 billion in fresh loans including $3 billion to be raised before reaching a staff-level agreement. Reportedly it is still not clear whether the IMF has withdrawn its condition for Pakistan to arrange $2 billion from a bilateral source and the remaining $1 billion from either commercial banks or other multilateral institutions.