Pakistani Current Account records deficit of $662m in Dec after 5 months in surplus

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has shared Wednesday monthly numbers of Balance of Payments noting current account of Pakistan has turned red after bleeding US$ 1.1 billion in December alone, ARY News reported.

The Current Account Balance is a ledger of payments that takes into accounts all the bills the country has to pay and all payments it has to receive. The total amount if is positive it means the country’s account is in surplus, if the opposite, it’s the opposite.

1/2 In Dec20, current account registered a deficit of $662mn after remaining in surplus for last 5 months. Cumulatively, during 6MFY21, current account remains in surplus, $1.1bn, compared to a deficit of over $2bn during 6MFY20. For details: https://t.co/Od8ikVvpBF

— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) January 20, 2021

 

The Pakistan CAB remained in surplus for consecutive five months but in December it bled US$ 1175 million and now its current standing is in a deficit of US$662.

SBP in its tweet to announce this development today said, “Current account registered a deficit of $662mn after remaining in surplus for last 5 months.”

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It said that cumulatively, during the six months of fiscal year 2021 the “current account remained in surplus  of $1.1bn compared to a deficit of over $2bn in the corresponding period last year”.

It further added that exports and remittances continued to grow steadily in the previous month compared to last year.

“Imports of some essential food items as well as growth-enhancing capital goods, oil, and industrial raw materials also rose on the back of the domestic economic recovery.”