Pakistan cuts 2017/18 growth estimate

Pakistan has revised its economic growth figures for the last financial year to 5.2 percent from a previously reported figure of 5.8 percent, after a sharp cut in the figure for large-scale manufacturing, the statistics office said.

The revision of figures reported by the previous government underlines the economic headwinds facing Pakistan which is holding discussions over a possible bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

When the original estimate was reported in April by the government of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, it was hailed as the strongest growth in 13 years.

The office, in a statement issued after a meeting of the national accounts committee late on Friday, said gross domestic product in the 2017/18 financial year to June rose 5.22 percent compared with a previously reported 5.79 percent.

Growth in the industrial sector was revised to 5.01 percent from a previously reported 5.8 percent in the provisional estimate. The biggest change came in the largescale manufacturing segment, which saw growth revised to 5.01 percent from 6.13 percent previously.

In the agriculture sector, growth was revised to 3.7 percent, from a previous 3.81 percent, while in services, growth was revised to 5.78 percent from 6.43 percent previously.

Growth in the current year is expected to slow further to 4 percent this year, according to an IMF forecast from November.

Before the revisions to last year’s GDP figures, Pakistan’s deficit to GDP ratio, estimated at 5.8 percent in 2017-18, was expected to hit 6.9 percent this year, according to IMF data.