KARACHI: The country’s current account deficit widened by 16 percent in the first quarter of this fiscal year, mainly due to a higher goods import bill.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported on Friday that Pakistan posted a current account deficit of USD 874 million during July-Sep of FY27 compared to USD 755 million in same period of the last fiscal year (FY26), depicting an increase of USD 119 million.
On a year-on-year basis, Pakistan’s current account posted a deficit of USD 356 million in September 2026, reversing a surplus of USD 133 million recorded in the corresponding month of the previous fiscal year.
On a month-on-month basis, the current account deficit also widened sharply to USD 356 million in September 2026 from USD 73 million in August 2026, marking an increase of 388 percent.
The higher import bill has largely contributed to the widening current account deficit. Goods imports are rising in line with expectations, driven by stronger domestic demand amid the ongoing economic recovery and growth.
Pakistan’s import bill increased from USD 15.5 billion in first quarter of FY26 to USD 17.7 billion in same period of this fiscal year.
However the higher inflows of home remittances help to finance the rising current account deficit.
The country received remittances USD 10.8 billion in the first quarter of this fiscal year, up by 13 percent.
The SBP has already projected that resilient remittances and higher Information Communication and Technology (ICT) exports are expected to contain the current account deficit at 0-1 percent of GDP by end of this fiscal year.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026