PM Imran lauds ‘remarkable turnaround’ in Pakistan’s economy

Foreign exchange reserves increase to $13 billion, says premier

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said the country's foreign reserves have risen to around $13 billion, the highest in three years.

The premier said that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought a global slowdown in economic activity in 2020, there is "great news on the economy" and a "remarkable turnaround".

Pakistan has achieved a current account surplus of $447 million for the month of November, added the prime minister. He further said there is a surplus of $1.6 billion for the fiscal year so far versus a deficit of $1.7 billion during the same period last year.

MashaAllah despite Covid 19 great news on economy - remarkable turnaround. Current account surplus again in Nov: $447 mn. For fiscal year so far, surplus is $1.6 bn as opposed to deficit of $1.7bn same period last yr. SBP's FX reserves have risen to about $13 bn, highest in 3 yrs

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) December 22, 2020

Earlier this month, the premier attributed the positive trends in the country’s economy – improvement in stock market performance and increase in investors’ confidence – to the business-friendly policies of the PTI led federal government.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has said that Pakistan’s economy was on the path of recovery. Some official estimates suggested 2.8% growth rate during the current fiscal year.

“Pakistan’s growth is forecast to recover in fiscal year 2020-21 as economic sentiment improves with the expected subsiding of Covid-19 and the resumption of structural reform,” said the ADB.

The country's remittances have also continued to increase over the past months. Cumulatively, in the first five months (July-November) of current fiscal year, remittances grew 27% to $11.77 billion compared to the same period of last year.

Pakistan had received remittances in the range of $1.78-1.9 billion per month in the prior five months - January-May 2020.