ISLAMABAD: The coalition administration failed to meet any of its economic targets in the outgoing fiscal year 2022-23, according to the National Accounts Committee (NAC) numbers, The News said.
The Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led administration has missed all important benchmarks, including the provisional GDP of 5% for the current fiscal year, according to the international financial institutions.
Compared to the revised 6.1% in 2021-22, the growth rate was 0.29%, the lowest in four years.
This low growth will increase poverty and unemployment, but there are no official estimates.
Moreover, In the outgoing fiscal year, GDP was Rs38.927 trillion, up from Rs38.814 trillion in 2021-22.
The Planning Commission’s Chief Economist Dr. Nadeem Javaid told journalists that the devastating floods, lingering political instability, global recession, and Ukraine war accelerated Pakistan’s economic woes, but the resilience of the country’s economic sectors produced a slight positive growth in the current fiscal year.
Provisional figures:
The National Accounts Committee, chaired by Secretary Planning Syed Zafar Ali Shah, approved the provisional figures:
GDP growth—0.29%
Agriculture growth—1.55%
Industrial sector—-2.94%
Services sector—0.86%
The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) and other high-ups were under intense pressure to increase GDP growth.
While, After much dispute among Ministry of Finance, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), and Ministry of Planning officials, the NAC allowed 0.29% GDP growth.
As suspicions raised over education sector growth of 10.44%, the negative growth trajectory became positive. Human health and social work activities also surged 8.49% in the current fiscal year.
The agriculture sector grew 1.55%, but the growth of major crops was negative 2.49%. Wheat production at 27.6 million tonnes helped the sector thrive.
Moreover, Cotton produced 4.5 million bales and declined 41%. Livestock grew 3.78%.
Small-scale manufacturing grew 9.03% while large-scale manufacturing fell 7.98%. Construction fell 5.53%.
6.03% growth in power generating and gas distribution also aroused eyebrows. Services rose 0.86%. Wholesale and retail lost 4.46%.
The PBS Chief Dr. Naeem Uz Zafar claimed there was no pressure on the PBS to achieve positive growth and that they had done their work properly to reach the provisional growth figures.
