Pakistan’s external account took a sharp turn in April, slipping into a $324 million current account deficit after posting a $1.134 billion surplus in March, according to the latest data released by the State Bank of Pakistan. The reversal comes at a tricky moment for policymakers, because it suggests that the breathing space created in earlier months can narrow pretty quickly once imports start climbing again.
The April setback looks closely tied to a wider trade gap. Pakistan’s trade deficit widened to $4.07 billion in April, the highest in 46 months, as imports rose faster than exports. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data showed exports at about $2.48 billion for the month, up from a year earlier, while imports climbed to roughly $6.55 billion, leaving a much larger goods gap than in March.
That matters because even fairly healthy inflows elsewhere were not enough to fully offset the pressure. Workers’ remittances remained strong, with the SBP saying Pakistan received $3.5 billion in April 2026, an increase of 11.4% year-on-year, though down 7.6% month-on-month from March. In plain terms, remittances kept supporting the external account, but they couldn’t completely absorb the shock from a heavier import bill.
The bigger fiscal-year picture is also a little less comfortable than it looked a few months ago. Reporting based on the latest SBP release says Pakistan’s cumulative current account position for July–April FY26 showed a deficit of $252 million, compared with a $1.66 billion surplus in the same period of the previous fiscal year. That is not a collapse, not by itself, but it does underline how fragile the balance still is.
What makes April especially notable is the speed of the swing. March had been unusually strong, and in hindsight it now looks more like a cushion than a new normal. Once imports accelerated again, the current account moved back into the red almost immediately. Economists have been warning that Pakistan’s external position, while improved from crisis levels, still depends heavily on remittances, contained energy costs, and careful management of domestic demand. The April data fits that story rather neatly.
The State Bank itself had already flagged some of these risks before the latest current account numbers came out. In its April 27, 2026 Monetary Policy Statement, the central bank said the prolonged Middle East conflict had intensified risks to the macroeconomic outlook, with global energy prices, freight charges and insurance premiums staying well above earlier levels. That warning now looks more than theoretical. A costlier import environment can feed directly into Pakistan’s trade bill, and from there into the current account.
For the government and the central bank, the challenge now is pretty straightforward, even if the solution isn’t. They need to keep external financing conditions stable, protect reserve accumulation, and avoid a demand surge that pushes imports up too fast. At the same time, exports and remittances need to keep growing, because right now they remain the main shock absorbers in the system.
