Current account records $26m surplus

Remittances, US reimbursement provide support for current account to record surplus.

KARACHI:

The current account surplus for the first half (July-December) of the current financial year 2010-11 stood at a provisional $26 million, compared with a deficit of $2.57 billion in the same period last year, the central bank said on Tuesday.

In December, the current account stood at a provisional surplus of $601 million, compared with a deficit of $17 million in November, the State Bank of Pakistan said. The country received more than $633 million last month from the US for providing military and logistical support in the fight against terror. Remittances from overseas Pakistanis rose 17 per cent to $5.291 billion in the first six months of 2010-11, compared with $4.530 billion in the same period last year.

Director at Invest and Finance Securities Limited, Khalid Iqbal Siddiqui, said: “The main reason for the surplus in December is the $633 million that Pakistan received for providing logistical support.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19th, 2011.