KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan said on Thursday the country’s current account, which comprises external trade and transfers, had posted a record and one of the highest monthly surpluses in March 2025 with $1.19 billion, up 229% year-on-year.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange also concluded Thursday’s session on a bullish note, with the KSE-100 Index advancing by 881 points, or 0.76%, to close at 116,901 level. 
“Investor sentiment was buoyed by record-high remittances, which contributed to a historic current account surplus in March 2025. The surplus for the first nine months of FY25 reached $1.9 billion,” Topline securities said in a statement. 
The surplus in March 2024 stood at $363 million, the latest central bank data showed. 
On Monday, Central Bank governor Jameel Ahmad had said the current account would show a “substantial” surplus this year through June mainly on the back of a record inflow of remittances which crossed the $4 billion mark in March, with Saudi Arabia once again topping the list of biggest contributors.
“With record monthly surplus in March 2025, cumulative surplus in country’s Current Account for 9MFY25 (Jul-Mar25) now stands at $1.86 billion, which was in a deficit of $1.65 billion in the same period last year,” SBP said. 
In March 2025, Pakistan’s exports recorded at $3.51 billion, growing 8.7% YoY and 6.0% MoM. Imports also rose 8.0% YoY to $5.92 billion in March but fell 1.9% MoM.
“Resultantly, while Trade Deficit (Goods+Services) went up 7% YoY, it narrowed 11.5% MoM in March 2025,” the data showed. 
For 9MFY25 (Jul-Mar25), total exports now stand at $30.9 billion, up 8.1% YoY, while total imports stand at $51.9 billion, up 10.7% YoY, with the cumulative trade deficit at $21.1 billion, up 14.7% YoY. 
“With oil prices down, and remittances continuing to make a record mark, Pakistan’s current account is expected to be in deep surplus by June FY25 and may also continue in FY26, thereby resulting in further scale-up in overall investor confidence,” the central bank said. 
Pakistan received a record-high $4.1 billion in remittances in March 2025, which bodes well for the government’s efforts to revive an economy that it expects will expand three percent this year, SBP governor Ahmad said at an event at the Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi on Monday.
The central bank had earlier projected economic growth to range from 2.5% to 3.5%.
“With this level of remittances, we are hoping that for the current fiscal year our current account will stay in surplus,” the governor said. “There will be a substantial surplus and this surplus is the best performance, I will say, on the external account during the last two decades.”
The country broke its own record in February when overseas Pakistanis remitted $3.1 billion.