Pakistan’s current account balance - the difference between government’s foreign income and expenditure - remained in surplus for the third month in a row at $73 million in September 2020, creating history with a 17-year high surplus in the July-September quarter. The current account was in surplus of $73 million during September, bringing surplus for the first quarter to $792 million compared to a deficit of $1,492 million during the same time last year. Pakistan achieved the current account surplus in a quarter after a gap of five years, while the volume of surplus stood at a 17-year high at $792 million in July-September 2020, Tariq said. With this, the current account deficit for current fiscal year 2020-21 was estimated at $1-1.5 billion compared to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) projection of more than $6 billion (2.5% of gross domestic product - GDP), he added. Import of goods decreased almost 4% to $10.61 billion compared to $11.03 billion.

Source: The Express Tribune October 22, 2020 03:22 UTC