Pakistan's current account deficit dropped to $8.861 billion in 2008-09 from $13.866 billion in 2007-08, a sharp decline of 36 percent. The fall in current account deficit is the result of government's tight import policies-heavy regulatory duties were imposed on hundreds of items-and high interest rates, which reduced demand for goods in the country. Besides, the fall in rupee's value against the greenback made imports expensive and, hence, curtailed demand for imported products. State Bank of Pakistan data showed that the current account deficit during 2008-09 stood at $8.86 billion as against $13.86 billion in 2007-08, depicting a significant decline in current account deficit by $5 billion.