Amid reports of Pakistan’s economy heading to a historic $20 billion current account deficit, Prime Minister Imran Khan is set to address the nation to “take the nation into confidence on the economy and global challenges amid Russia-Ukraine conflict.”
Pakistan’s former finance minister and economist Dr. Hafeez A Pasha has said that the country is heading towards “a serious financial crisis”, disclosing that the country’s current account deficit (CAD) will touch the $20 billion mark, or six per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the current fiscal year
“The international prices were witnessing skyrocketing trends, and now the CAD would witness more pressure with the possibility of touching a historic high. The CAD had already touched the $11.6 billion mark in the first seven months of the current fiscal year and now it was projected that it might go up to unprecedented levels of $20 billion versus $19 billion in the fiscal year 2017-18,” Pasha has been quoted as saying to The News.
“For God’s sake, the political parties must shun their differences because the country is heading towards a serious financial crisis. The foreign currency reserves of the country could go below the $7 billion mark as the country had witnessed in 2017-18 when the CAD had touched the $19 billion mark,” he further added.
In the backdrop of Russia’s lingering war with Ukraine, rising oil and commodity prices in international markets have exacerbated the concerns of Pakistan’s economic managers.
