ISLAMABAD: In its annual Asian Development Outlook Report 2024, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has termed political unrest, devastating floods, and policy slippage as major hurdles in Pakistan’s economic progress, citing uncertainty as a risk towards the country’s efforts for stabilisation, recovery and reforms o Thursday.
“The economy contracted as devastating floods, political unrest, and policy slippage curbed investment, consumption, and production,” the report read, adding that the country’s GDP declined by 0.2% in fiscal year 2023 (FY2023,ended 30 June 2023) following 6.2% expansion in FY2022.
According to the regional development bank, private consumption growth, on the demand side, slipped to 2.4% from 7.1% in FY2022, reflecting higher living costs and slower nominal income growth amid a weakening of employment, while limited fiscal resources led to a 31.6% drop in public investment, while private investment fell by 14.6%, in line with the pessimistic outlook.
“A steep decline in imports from ad hoc import controls allowed net exports to contribute positively to growth,” it added.
The bank maintained that the growth in Pakistan is projected to grow by 1.9% this year, driven by a rebound in private sector investment linked to progress on reform measures and transition to a new and more stable government
