ISLAMABAD – The current account deficit has narrowed down by 29 percent bythe end of the third quarter of the financial year 2018-19 mainly due tothe government’s policies to contain the trade deficit.
According to the data updated by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the currentaccount saw a difference of $4 billion in the current financial year. Itdecreased to $9.5 billion in the period of July-March this year as against$13.5 billion last year.
The current account deficit in March grew by 66 percent compared withFebruary. It increased to $822 million in March from $278 million in thepreceding month of February.
Overall, the improvement in the current account is evident as it stood 22percent less in the eight months and now it has decreased further to 29percent in the nine months of the current financial year.
Compared with GDP, the current account deficit stands at 4.4 percent of theGDP as against 5.7 percent last year.
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The dip of 14 percent in the trade deficit contributed to the improvementin the current account, which was possible due to the policies of Ministryof Finance to discourage the imports of luxury items in the country.
The government targets to reduce the trade deficit by $6 billion by Junebut its goal is highly ambitious albeit possible.
