The current account deficit shrank for the third month in a row to US$03 billion in September as compared to $0.7 billion in August 2022, largely reflecting a continued moderation in overall imports, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said. “In September, the current account deficit (CAD) declined for the 3rd month in a row. It fell to $0.3bn, less than half the level in August. In Q1FY23, the CAD has fallen to $2.2bn from $3.5bn in Q1FY22, mainly reflecting a decline in imports”, said the Central Bank on its official Twitter account. Cumulatively, in July-September of the current fiscal year (FY23), the Current Account Deficit declined to $2.21 billion as compared to the same period last year mainly due to an increase in exports and a contraction of imports. According to the data, the exports of goods increased from $7.2 billion in Jul-Sept 2021-22 to $7.6 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. The imports of goods decreased from $17.4 billion to $16 billion in the period under review. The overall trade deficit also shrank to $9 billion in the first quarter of FY23 as compared to the deficit of $11 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year. Similarly, the trade deficit in services also shrank to $361 million in August as compared to the deficit of $388 million in the same month of the previous year. The deficit of primary income declined to $982 million in Jul-Sept 2022-23 as compared to $1.006 billion in the same month of the previous year. The combined deficit of goods, services, and primary income also declined to $3.3 billion in the corresponding month while during the same month of last year, the deficit was recorded at $4.016 billion.