Things haven’t been that bad in Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) era from 2013-18 as the latest report released by the State Bank of Pakistan for Fiscal Year 2017-18 revealed that the Country’s gross domestic product (GDP) remained 5.8 percent in last financial year, which was the highest during the last 13 years (State Bank Report 2018).
The report was released on Thursday, which states that the real GDP growth picked-up further in FY 18, reaching 5.8 percent compared to 5.4 percent last year.
“The growth not only remained broad-based, but was also the highest during the last 13 years and remained close to the target set for FY18,” the report states.
Click Here for State Bank Report for FY 2017-18
The report states that a healthy performance by agriculture, sustained growth in services and an uptick in large-scale manufacturing output contribute to this positive outcome.
It says that the GDP growth was support by a host of factors, namely low cost of financing, fiscal incentive through subsidies, favorable business sentiments, and enhanced access to bank lending.
State Bank Report 2018
In addition, high public spending progress on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)-related projects stimulated economic activities besides inducing firms to enhance their production capacities.
However, the report states that despite considerable investment undertakings in both public and private sectors, Pakistan’s investment to GDP ratio remains low compared to peer Countries.
About the agriculture sector, the State Bank report states that it continued to exhibit a better performance in FY18, as it grew by 3.8 percent compared to 2.1 percent last year.
The report also highlights that the livestock sector, which contributes 59 percent in the agriculture sector’s value addition, grew by 3.8 percent in Fiscal Year 2018 compared to 2.7 percent in FY17.
Likewise, the growth in the industrial sector improved to 5.8 percent in FY18 from 5.4 percent in FY17; however, it remained lower than the target of 7.3 percent.
