Karachi: The current account deficit has swelled to $ 1.555 billion in the first four months of the current fiscal year 2011-12 on looming deficit in trade and services sector.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) statistics showed the growth of 187 percent in the deficit value compared with previous year’s period figures, standing at $541 million.
The trade deficit of goods has witnessed a record increase of 40 percent on the looming imbalance between imports and exports of the country, reflecting increasing expenses on foreign products.
The imports value of different commodities stood at $5.281 billion compared with $3.773 billion exports of various products to different countries. The high imported cost of petroleum products, food’s commodities and machinery have mounted pressure on high spending of the country.
The services trade was also seen deficit as the import bill witnessed surge of 32.2 percent to $6.227 billion in July to October 2011.
The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) landing continued to freeze in the country with outflow of Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI).
Analysts said the current account has been under pressure as the deficit will likely to cross the expected figure of $2 billion by the end of the current fiscal year.
They said the central bank’s deduction of policy rates will have negative impact on the current account as the imports will likely to increase in the coming months.
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