Pakistan recorded its Current Account Deficit (CAD) of US$8mn in Sep-2023 vs US$164mn in Aug-2023. This figure fell below market expectations, where a surplus was anticipated. This takes 1QFY24 CAD to US$947mn against a CAD of US$2,258mn in 1QFY23.

Remittances up 5% MoM to US$2.2bn in Sep-2023. This takes 1QFY24 remittances to US$6.3bn down 18% YoY.

Foreign exchange reserves of the country in Sep 2023 were up 3% MoM to US$13bn. However, the reserves held by SBP were down 2% MoM to US$7.6bn in Sep-2023, primarily due to the increased import payments resulting from the opening of LCs.

Pakistan’s CPI Inflation jumped to 31.44% YoY in Sep-2023, breaking a three-months of YoY declining trend. The significant hike in inflation is due to higher local fuel and food prices. On MoM basis, CPI inflation was up 2.0% in Sep 2023 as compared to 1.7% in Aug 2023 and last 3-month average of 1.6%. This takes 1QFY24 average inflation to 29.04% compared to 25.11% in 1QFY23.

Courtesy – Topline Pakistan Research