Going by the first quarter numbers, Pakistan’s economy may be on track to score a modest recovery, although it is too soon to say just yet if the trend will hold through the fiscal year and beyond.
By Muhammad Ali
ISLAMABAD: In what may be seen as an encouraging sign, Pakistan has posted a GDP growth of 2.13 percent for the first quarter of the current fiscal year, up from 0.96 percent for the corresponding period last fiscal.
The announcement came as the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) held meetings with stakeholders and data providers and presented revised GDP numbers for FY 2022-23 and Q1 FY 2023-24 before the National Accounts Committee (NAC) Tuesday.
This marks the start of Pakistan releasing quarterly GDP numbers to meet a structural benchmark of the economic reform program supported by the USD 3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) International Monetary Fund (IMF), Topline Research said.
The committee approved the first quarter estimates of 2023/24 along with data dissemination and revision policy. Gross value added (GVA) growth rate of 2.13 percent estimated for Q1 FY 2023-24 was underpinned by a 5.06 percent growth shown by Agriculture, 2.48 percent by industry and 0.82 percent by services.
Pakistan’s GDP growth for the fiscal year 2023, initially reported by former Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar at 0.29 percent, has been revised to -0.17 percent. Meanwhile, the first quarter of fiscal year 2024 shows a positive growth rate at +2.1 percent.
A PBS statement issued after this, the 107the meeting of the NAC, said the introduction of quarterly national accounts (QNA) will enable the authorities to gauge the pulse of the economy at a shorter interval as well as helping the country to meet the IMF’s Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS).
SDSS was established by the IMF for member countries seeking access to international capital markets. It lays down a set of guidelines for the availability of the country’s economic and financial data to the public.
Although the standard is voluntary rather than binding, a member embracing it needs to abide by its provisions and publish information about its data and data dissemination practices or metadata, which is posted on the IMF’s Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board.
The SDDS is expected to enhance the availability of timely and comprehensive data and improve the functioning of financial markets.
The full PBS press release may be downloaded here.
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