Remarkable turnaround in Pakistan economy despite COVID-19: PM Imran Khan

• November saw current account surplus of $447m
• Jul-Nov FY20-21 surplus stands at $1.6b
• Remarkable turnaround despite COVID-19, says PM Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday shared "great news on economy" despite the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"MashaAllah, despite COVID-19 great news on economy," he wrote in a tweet. "Remarkable turnaround. The premier said Pakistan's current account surplus in the month of November was $447 million, raising the cumulative surplus for the year to $1.6 billion."

For the same period last year, the country faced a deficit of $1.7 billion. "State Bank of Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves have risen to about $13 billion - highest in three years," he added. 

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This is the fifth consecutive month the country has seen a current account surplus.

In a tweet, the central bank said the country's current account surplus rose further to $447 million against a deficit of $326 million in November last year. 

It added that in contrast to previous five years, current account has been in surplus throughout the current fiscal year "due to an improved trade balance and a sustained increase in remittances".

"In November 2020, both exports and imports picked up reflecting recovery in external demand and domestic economic activity," it explained. "This turnaround in the current account, together with improvement in financial inflows, raised SBP’s foreign exchange reserves by around $1 billion in November 2020."

"At $13.1 billion, they are now at their highest level in 3 years."

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According to Ministry of Finance's monthly updates and outlook document, the current account remained in surplus of $382 million in October. The surplus for July-October FY20-21 stood at $1.2 billion (1.3% of the gross domestic product) against a deficit of $1.4 billion in the same period last fiscal year.