KARACHI: Pakistan recorded a current account surplus of $459 million in May 2026, marking a significant turnaround from the $276 million deficit recorded in April, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday.
The latest figures also show an improvement compared with May 2025, when the country posted a current account deficit of $44 million.
Current Account Balance recorded a surplus of $459 million in May 2026 compared to a deficit of $276 million in Apr 2026. https://t.co/q3LNv3HOB0https://t.co/fMcRUupUIA#SBPBOP pic.twitter.com/Ew3yTdtZNU
— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) June 17, 2026
Pakistan’s current account recorded a surplus of around $255 million during the July–May period of FY26, marking a sharp improvement from the $1.62 billion deficit registered during the same period last year, according to data from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and government sources.
“The current account balance recorded a surplus of $459 million in May 2026 compared to a deficit of $276 million in April 2026,” the SBP said in a social media post accompanying the data.
The monthly surplus was driven largely by a strong increase in workers’ remittances and a modest rise in exports, which helped offset the continued expansion in imports.
Remittance inflows climbed 15.4% year-on-year to $4.25 billion in May 2026, compared with $3.69 billion recorded in the same month a year earlier. Exports of goods and services also edged up by more than 1% to $3.21 billion, from $3.17 billion in May 2025.
Meanwhile, imports of goods and services increased by nearly 2% year-on-year, reaching $6.49 billion in May 2026 compared with $6.39 billion during the corresponding period last year.
Khurram Schehzad, an advisor to the finance minister, described the improvement in the external account position as the “foundation of sustainable high economic growth” in a statement shared on social media
The latest surplus was Pakistan’s fourth in the past five months, he said.
Separately, the country’s Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) index increased to 106.15 in May 2026 from 105.84 in April.
A REER value above 100 suggests that a currency is stronger than its level in the base period, potentially making exports less competitive and imports relatively cheaper. Conversely, a reading below 100 indicates a weaker currency position compared with the base period.
