According to Topline Pakistan Research, March is a significant month for Pakistan’s Key Economic Indicators.

Pakistan recorded a Current Account Surplus of US$619mn in March 2024 vs. US$537mn in the same period last year and US$98mn in Feb-2024. This is the highest monthly surplus after nine years. CAD for 9MFY24 clocked in at US$508mn vs US$4,054mn in 9MFY23.

Due to Eid inflows, remittances were up 31% Month over Month and 16% Year over Year to US$2.95bn in March 2024. This brings 9MFY24 remittances to US$21bn, up 1% Year over Year.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves in March 2024 were up 7% MoM to US$13.4bn. Similarly, the reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) were also up by 1% MoM at US$8.0bn in March 2024.

Pakistan’s CPI inflation was 20.68% YoY in March 2024, compared to 23.06% YoY recorded in February 2024. This was the lowest inflation after 21 months and was down from a peak of 37.97% seen in May 2023. On a Month-on-Month basis, CPI inflation was up 1.7% in March 2024 compared to a flattish change in February 2024. This Month-on-Month rise in inflation was lower than the last 12 months’ average increase of 1.8%.