Despite foreign inflows from several sources and falling oil prices, the current account deficit has widened to $2.3 billion.
The State Bank reported the other day that the current account for December was in surplus, but the six-month data depicted a deficit of $2.3 billion for the ongoing fiscal year 2014-15.
In December, the current account was in surplus with $76 million, reflecting that the situation improved last month. However, balance of trade deficit in goods during the six months rose to $9.773 billion.
The rising trade deficit is surprising since oil prices have dipped since the beginning of the new fiscal year 2015. The trade gap was about 37pc during this period.
However, balance of trade in services has improved as deficit shrank significantly during this period. Services trade showed a deficit of $1.195 billion while during the same period of last year, the deficit stood at $1.507 billion.
Analysts believe that the country’s oil bill would drop sharply in the current fiscal year since oil prices have fallen from $112 to below $50 a barrel.
The country paid about $14 billion for import of petroleum products in 2014. The falling prices are expected to reduce the oil import bill and improve balance of trade.
