Pakistan projects current account deficit reduced to $4.5 bn

Pakistan while in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the Current Account Deficit (CAD) to decline by $2 billion to end at $4.5 billion compared to the $6.5 billion projected for the Financial year ending June 2024.

The IMF – Pakistan consultations for the first review of the $3 billion standby arrangement the calculations are helpful as it can significantly reduce country’s external financing woes for this fiscal year.

Pakistan amid decline of imports briefed IMF to achieve economic growth in the range of 3% to 3.5%,inflation 21% as projected in the year.

The country is stuggling to attract dollar inflows therefore reducing CAD was only option to avert a balance of payment crisis.

In the financial year 2023-24, Pakistan’s external financing requirements stood at $28 billion — foreign debt servicing of $23.5 billion and CAD projection of $4.5 billion.

The current account deficit remained $927 million during the July-September quarter.Pakistan projects the exports to be around $30.843 billion while imports to stand at $64.7 billion in the current fiscal year.

In the first four months (Jul-Oct), exports amounted to only $9.6 billion, up 0.7%.Imports during the first four months stood at $17 billion, down 18.5% compared to last year.