Pakistan’s economic growth rate will remain at 1.8 per cent instead of 3.5 per cent this fiscal year, says World Bank’s Pakistan development update report.
The Pakistan development update Report says that macroeconomic risks persist and the debt burden has increased. Poverty rate increases by 4.5 per cent in fiscal year 2022-23, with a fear of falling another one million people below the poverty line.
According to the report, due to tight macroeconomic policy and rising debt, investment has slowed down, with the primary balance expected to be 0.1 per cent of GDP, which will be 0.3 per cent in the next fiscal year.
Current account deficit is expected to be 0.7 per cent in the current fiscal year, while the current deficit is expected to decrease further to 0.6 per cent of GDP in the next fiscal year.
The report states that Pakistan’s expected external debt requirement will remain unchanged. The debt ratio is expected to decrease to 73.1 per cent of GDP in the current fiscal year, while it is expected to decrease to 72.5 per cent of GDP in the next fiscal year.
According to the World Bank report, economic activities improved in the first half of fiscal year 2024 due to strong agricultural production. Improvement in confidence has also helped recovery in some other sectors, but this rate of growth and improvement is insufficient to reduce poverty.
