Economic reforms bearing fruit, says PM Imran on narrowing of current account deficit

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday hailed the $99 million current account surplus posted in October — after a gap of more than four years — saying the country’s economy was finally heading in the right direction.

“Pakistan economy finally heading in right direction as more of our economic reforms bear fruit: Pak’s current account turned into surplus in Oct 2019, for first time in 4 yrs. Current account balance was +$99mn in Oct 2019 compared to -$284mn in Sept 2019 & -$1,280mn in Oct 2018,” he said on Twitter.

“For first 4 months of our fiscal year, our current account deficit has fallen by 73.5% compared to same period last fiscal year. Our exports of goods & services in Oct 2019 rose 20% over previous month and 9.6% over Oct 2018. I congratulate our exporters & encourage them to do more,” added the premier.

The latest data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed the government has succeeded in bringing down the current account deficit.

The data for October showed the current account was positive 99m against a net deficit of $1.28bn in the same month of previous fiscal year.

The surplus in October and narrowing of four-month current account deficit was mainly achieved due to a massive cut in the imports’ bill. The government is facing criticism that the massive decline in imports have slowdown overall economic activities which would ultimately hit the GDP growth rate.

The SBP governor, however, said the fall in current account deficit is a big achievement for country and is a sign of macroeconomic stability.