‘Great news’: PM Imran Khan says Pakistan headed in right direction

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said that the country is heading in the “right direction” as Pakistan's current account recorded a surplus of $792 million in the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal year 2020-21, with the central bank saying that it is the "first quarterly surplus in more than five years".

“Great news for Pakistan. We are headed in right direction finally,” said PM Imran.

The prime minister shared that the current account was in surplus of $73 million during September, bringing in a surplus for the first quarter to $792 million. He explained that the country had registered a deficit of $1,492 million during the same quarter of the previous year.

Also read: PM Imran announces $424mn current account surplus for July

“Exports grew 29% and remittances grew 9% over the previous month,” said PM Imran.

'First quarterly surplus in five years'

Meanwhile, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said that it was the first quarterly surplus in more than five years.

"In September, the current account posted a surplus for a third successive month. The surplus reached $73 million against a deficit of $278 million a year earlier," said the SBP in a series of tweets. 

It added that "the current account recorded a surplus of $792 million in Q1-FY21, the first quarterly surplus in more than 5 years".

The SBP also shared that the continued buoyancy in remittances is up by 9% on a month on month basis. It added that the broad-based rebound in exports increased by 29% on a month on month basis which led to the current account surplus in September. 

"Imports also picked up in line with the on-going revival in domestic economic activity," said the SBP.

Also read: Remittances in August continue uptrend from July's record figure, says PM Imran

Last month, the central bank had announced that Pakistan had registered a current account surplus for the second straight month in August on account of remittances sent in by the expatriates as well as cheaper imports.

In its statement, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said the Current Account Balance (CAB) surplus "amounted to $508 mn and $297 mn during July and August 2020", respectively.

In addition, the cumulative current account surplus came in at $0.805 billion in the July-August 2021 period, as opposed to a deficit worth $1.2 billion in the comparable time frame, last year, the SBP said on Twitter.