Pakistan’s Current Account Turns Red in January 2025 as Trade Deficit Surges 

Pakistan’s current account balance posted a deficit of $420 million in January 2025, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday.  This is the first time in four months that the current account has turned red. The current account posted a surplus in each of the previous three months i.e. October, November and December 2024.  The current account balance posted a surplus of $474 million in the previous month i.e. December 2024 while the current account balance posted a deficit of $404 million in the same month of the previous fiscal year i.e. January 2024.   The current account turned red on a month-on-month (MoM) basis due to increase in trade deficit by 37 percent MoM to $2.5 billion, while the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) recorded trade deficit of $2.3 billion for January 2025.  January 2025’s deficit reduced the Current Account Surplus to $682 million in 7MFY25 compared to deficit of $1.8 billion in 7MFY24.