ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Dr Miftah Ismail has expressed satisfaction on the latest economic indicators.
In a statement here on Tuesday he said that the economy has registered a 13 years high growth at 5.79 per cent in FY2018. It may be recalled that the economy had stagnated during 2008-13 with an average growth rate of 2.82 per cent.
Due to the policies pursued by the PML-N government, the growth rate improved to 4.05 per cent in the first year and has since maintained an upward trajectory, culminating in the current years’ highest growth rate of 5.79 per cent. The average increase during the last five years has been 4.76 per cent.
The industrial sector maintained its upward growth trajectory at 5.8 per cent. This is the highest level of growth in the last 10 years. Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) touched 6.13 per cent growth during the first eight months of the CFY, which is the highest in the last 11 years. The contribution of sugar production, where crushing started later than usual, is likely to further improve the final numbers for the year.
The griculture sector has also performed impressively and achieved 3.8 per cent growth which is again the highest in the last 13 years. Production of all major crops registered significant growth.
The services sector has achieved 6.43 per cent growth during the current fiscal year. It is the second year in a row that its growth is above 6 per cent.
Inflation has been contained at 3.85 per cent during first nine months of the current fiscal year. The government has therefore been successful in achieving its objective of high growth and low inflation. The containment of inflation is due to effective monetary stabilisation policies adopted by the government. The current trend suggests that, inflation will remain below the target of 6 per cent during the current fiscal year.
The adviser noted that the external sector was also improving with the exports gradually picking up and growth in imports slowing down. He said that during March 2018, exports had shown a 24 per cent growth year-on-year, while imports increased by 6 per cent. At the same time, foreign remittances also show an increasing trend.
