In government documents outed on Thursday, Pakistan’s per capita income registered a 6.4pc rise to reach $1,629 in the current financial year 2016-17. The economy recorded a growth of 5.28pc during the current FY against the forecast rate of 5.7pc. This is the fastest pace the economy has grown at during the last decade or so, and the size of the economy grew to $304b during the current FY.
Around 67pc of the growth contributor in the current FY 2016-17 has been attributed to the services sector, the government had failed to meet its targeted growth for the industrial segment. It did however meet its targeted growth for the services and agricultural sector in the current FY. The government did not meet its targeted export amount of $24.8b for this FY and it is expected to actually hover around $21.7b.
The current account deficit of the country widened almost three-folds to $7.247 billion in July-April 2016-17 if we compare it with the same period of the last fiscal year. It broadened due to sliding exports and lower inflows of direct investment and remittances. The exports decreased by 2.29pc to $16.918b in July-April 2016-17, while imports reached an all-time high of $43.473b or 40.12pc during the same period.
The agriculture sector registered a growth of 3.5pc in FY 2016-17 and it accounts for 37pc of the total labour force employed in the country. According to the figures, production of major crops saw a growth of 4.1pc, Cotton ginning saw 5.6pc growth, livestock 3.4pc and forestry sector registered growth of 14.6pc.
The services sector saw a growth of around 6pc in the current FY 2016-17 and grew more than the target set of 5.7pc. According to data available, the transportation and communication segment saw 3.9pc growth, finance and insurance growth increased by 10.8pc and wholesale/retail trade registered a 6.8pc growth.
The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country was recorded at $1,733b during the first 10 months of the FY 2016-17, registering an increase of 12.7pc from the year before. This was attributed to an increase in investment from various Chinese organizations. As per the State of Pakistan, most of the investments were restricted to the electronics and construction segments and in food processing sectors. Chinese FDI during the first 10 months of FY 2016-17 increased by 13pc to reach $718.3m
Total investment in regard to GDP went up from 15.6pc in 2015-16 to 15.8pc during the ongoing FY 2016-17. The total investment reached Rs 5,026b during FY 2016-17 in comparison to previous year’s Rs 4,526.7b. And private investment also saw a fall of 9.9pc in FY 2016-17 in comparison to 10.2pc in 2015-16.
Government documents also revealed that the national savings in percentage terms of GDP had fallen to 13.1pc in current FY 2016-17 from 14.3pc in 2015-16. The actual figures for national savings in FY 2016-17 stood at Rs 4.161b which was Rs 4.173b in 2015-16. Fixed investment in GDP ratio went upward by 14.2pc in FY 2016-17 against 14pc the year before.
