ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said the government’s timely actions to contain the current account deficit are bearing fruit. Taking to Twitter from his personal handle Saturday, the Prime Minister said the deficit shrank to only 0.5 billion dollars in February which is two billion dollars lower than January and the lowest monthly deficit so far this fiscal year.

Imran Khan said our exports are close to all-time high and imports are down by twenty-one percent. He said strong growth is being witnessed in large-scale manufacturing.

“Timely actions to contain current account deficit bear fruit and the deficit shrank to only US$0.5bn in February,” the Prime Minister tweeted.

According to the PBS monthly summary on foreign trade statistics for February 2022, the country’s exports increased by 25.8 percent and remained $20.547 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year 2021-22.

Pakistan's current account deficit reduces massively to $545mn in February

Imports during the first eight months (July-February) of the current fiscal year stood at $52.506 billion, while exports during the same period remained $20.574, showing an increase of 25.08 percent, the PBS stated. However, according to the PBS, the trade deficit widened by 22.1 percent on a year-on-year basis. It jumped from $2.533 billion in February 2021 to $3.095 billion in February 2022, showing an increase of 9.69pc.

Imports declined by 2.2 per cent on a month-on-month basis and remained $5.903 billion in February 2022 compared to $6.041 billion in January 2022.