First current account surplus in two years

The country’s current account turned to a surplus of $654 million in March — a big monthly figure and the first surplus in over two years — against a deficit of $36m in February. This helped contract the ongoing fiscal year’s current account deficit (CAD) by a massive 74 per cent year-on-year to just $3.37bn in July-March. This decline in the current account deficit was the outcome of $11.25bn fewer imports, a direct outcome of the import ban on luxury products and non-essential raw materials imposed last year, which hit manufacturing, prompting plant closures in the automotive and cellular sectors. The third quarter, Jan-March, was the only one in FY23 which saw a net surplus of $388m. The first quarter (July-Sept) showed a deficit of $2.45bn while the second quarter (Oct-Dec) saw a deficit of $1.31bn, showing a downward trend.