Pakistan’s current account posts $103mn deficit in May 2025

Pakistan’s current account (C/A) posted a deficit of $103 million in May 2025, against surplus of $47 million (revised) last month, data released on Tuesday by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed.

On year-on-year (YoY) basis, the C/A decreased 56% against a deficit of $235 million recorded in the same month last year.

The current account deficit comes on the back of a significant increase in the import bill and a decline in exports during the period.

“Current account posted a deficit of $103 million, reversing the surplus trend seen in previous months. This deterioration was largely due to the widening trade deficit, which rose to $3 billion, up 52% YoY and 16% from April, 2025,” Waqas Ghani, Head of Research at JS Global, told Business Recorder.

Overall, the figure takes Pakistan’s current account to a surplus of $1.81 billion in the first eleven months of the current fiscal year (11MFY25), in stark contrast to a massive deficit of $1.57 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Breakdown

In May 2025, the country’s total export of goods and services amounted to $3.15 billion, down 15% as compared to $3.71 billion in the same month of the previous year.

Meanwhile, total imports clocked in at $6.36 billion during May 2025, an increase of 7% on a yearly basis, according to SBP data.

Workers’ remittances clocked in at $3.69 billion in May 2025, an increase of over 13% as compared to the previous year.

Low economic growth, along with high inflation, has helped curtail Pakistan’s current account deficit, with an increase in exports also helping the cause. A high interest rate, which has declined in recent months, and some restrictions on imports have also aided the policymakers’ objective of a narrower current account deficit.