Daily Times

KARACHI: Pakistan’s current account deficit has swells to almost double during the first two month of the fiscal year 2016-17.

The current account deficit reached 92 percent, or $630 million, mainly due to fall in exports by 7.81 percent and reduction in workers’ remittances by 3.1 percent during the first two months (July-August) of fiscal year 2016-17, the central bank said on Wednesday.

Balance of payment figures released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed that the current account deficit had almost doubled to $630 million as compared to $686 million in the same period of last year.

Worker’s remittances have shrunk by $102 million, or 3.1 percent, as the country received only $3.089 billion as compared to last year’s $3.191 billion.

Data further revealed that during July-August, the exports sector presented an alarming picture, as it dipped by 7.81 percent, or $273 million, to $3.221 billion as compared to $3.494 billion of the corresponding period of last year. The drop in exports is due to a sharp fall of unit prices in the international market by roughly 40 percent.

The country’s imports witnessed an increase of 2.44 percent, or $166 million, during the same period, which stood at $6.969 billion as compared to last years $6.803 billion.

Data also revealed that the country’s export of services witnessed a deficit of 31.44 percent, or $327 million, which stood at $713 million during the last two months as compared to $1.04 billion in July-August of FY 2015-16.

Pakistan’s balance of trade in services posted a similar picture, as it was down by 61.19 percent, or $235 million, during the period in review to minus $619 million from minus $384 million of last year’s corresponding period.

The balance of trade in goods and services also swelled by 18.25 percent, or $674 million, to $4.367 billion from last year’s $3.693 billion.

The inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) reduced by 53.2 percent to $112.6 million during July-August as compared to last year’s $224.8 million, showing a decrease of $128.2 million.