Fresh State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data shows that the country’s current account (CA) posted a deficit of $47 million in March, ending in red for the fourth month in a row, yet it still recorded a surplus of $959 million for the first three quarters (nine months) of the current fiscal year, so the long-term trajectory remains satisfactory. Remember as recently as 2018 the CA deficit stood at an unbearable $20 billion, so the government has done a very good job of complying with International Monetary Fund (IMF) directives and things are beginning to look up at least as far as the external sector is concerned. It is something of a concern though that this small miracle has been achieved without any sort of help from export earnings, which have remained stagnant despite all the reforms, especially a record devaluation of the rupee once it was handed over to market forces to determine its fair value. The government was able to cut down quite drastically on imports, particularly luxury items that only served the interests of the very rich, but now that the economy has got going again after the first lockdown and industry is gearing up for full production, imports have naturally increased as well. The current account became healthy, then, on the back of record remittances, which have been upward of $2 billion per month throughout this fiscal. This surprising trend has helped shore up reserves, strengthen the rupee, and put the government on a stronger footing than before with the IMF, all of which is very welcome news. Yet this trend is temporary at best. Even international agencies like the IMF and World Bank have expressed surprise at this sudden growth and expected it to fizzle out over the next year or so. Then, unless something is done to breathe a lot more life into exports, we are in danger of reverting to deficits just like before. The new finance minister has apparently made higher export revenue a priority, just like all the others did before him, so he must be quicker than the rest to add value to our export basket since that is the only way to get top dollar in the international market. Even regional rivals like Bangladesh are taking up parts of our traditional piece of the pie because they have paid attention to just such concerns. Clearly Pakistan cannot afford to lose any more time. The government must give industry all the incentives it needs, while also initiating reforms aimed at technological enhancement in production, lest the CA gains are compromised in front of our eyes. *