An overview of the balance of payment situation in Pakistan and why the country's growth trajectory is plagued with multiple programs with the IMF.

1. F O R C I R C U L AT I O N
Why does Pakistan keep going back
to the IMF?
Macro Pakistani

2. 2
Foreign loans have been required to sustain balance of payments
USD M 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Trade balance (19,240) (20,243) (22,692) (30,659) (37,329) (32,582) (22,737)
Export 30,423 29,962 27,428 27,918 30,619 30,223 27,947
Import 49,663 50,205 50,120 58,577 67,948 62,805 50,684
Primary income (3,955) (4,599) (5,345) (5,014) (5,437) (5,610) (5,682)
Secondary income 20,065 22,027 23,076 23,403 23,571 24,758 25,449
Current A/C balance (3,130) (2,815) (4,961) (12,270) (19,195) (13,434) (2,970)
Capital A/C balance 1,857 375 273 375 376 229 290
Net borrowing RoW (1,273) (2,440) (4,688) (11,895) (18,819) (13,205) (2,680)
Financial A/C balance (5,555) (5,117) (6,878) (9,855) (13,611) (11,759) (7,685)
Foreign Direct Invest. (1,572) (960) (2,374) (2,320) (2,772) (1,436) (2,524)
Portfolio Investments (2,762) (1,886) 429 250 (2,257) 1,274 400
Loans & Other (1,221) (2,271) (4,933) (7,785) (8,582) (11,597) (5,561)
Net Errors/Omissions (422) (33) 462 94 (933) (58) 286
SBP Reserves 10,509 14,836 19,446 17,550 11,341 9,301 13,724
Source: State Bank of Pakistan

3. 3
Balance of payment crises force Pakistan back to IMF for external funding
5 IMF programs
back to back
20th IMF facility 21st IMF facility 22nd IMF
facility
Source: State Bank of Pakistan; International Monetary Fund

4. 4
Moving to a market based exchange rate helped fix current account deficits
Devaluation
initiated
Source: State Bank of Pakistan