SBP Reveals Pakistan Current Account Displays Surplus of $9 Million in Nov

Karachi: According to the latest updates, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), indicating a positive shift in the Current account, recently disclosed that Pakistan's current account showed a surplus of USD 9 million in November 2023.

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This surplus has been noted following a deficit in the first four months of the fiscal year (FY) 2023–24, as the SBP announced on Monday. For the first five months of FY24, the cumulative current account deficit (CAD) decreased significantly by 64% to USD 1.16 billion. The USD 3.24 billion recorded during the same period of the previous fiscal year stands in stark contrast to this.

Mohammad Awais Ashraf, director of research at Akseer, emphasised the benefits of technology exports rising by over 9% to USD 259 million in November. The amount of money received by other business services increased by about 10% to USD 137 million. This added to the total surplus along with a 20% month-over-month decline in the trade-in-service deficit.

Experts identify several reasons for the current account surplus, such as government services' exports, technology export improvements, fewer interest payments, and lower profit repatriation by foreign corporations in November 2023 instead of October 2023.