According to official statistics released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday, large-scale manufacturing (LSM) had negative growth of 0.4% in the first quarter of the current fiscal year compared to the same period last year.
Economic growth may slow down even further in the upcoming quarter, according to the slowdown in industrial output during the current fiscal year. Due to the industrial units receiving nil gas supply over the winter, it is predicted that the second quarter would be more unsettling.
Compared to August, the LSM posted an annual gain of 0.1 percent in September, according to government figures. That was a significant improvement over July, when the LSM dropped by 1.4 percent annually. Concerns about an economic slowdown brought on by record energy and raw material costs have already been voiced by economists.
Petroleum goods (down 1.4 percent), cement (down 1.4 percent), medicines (down 1.8 percent), iron and steel products (down 0.2 percent), and autos were the primary causes of the slowdown in the first quarter (1.5 percent).
Only nine industries saw any gain, while 13 saw their production decline.
When manufacturing activity increased by only 0.2 percent in June compared to the prior month, the downturn began. Large-scale manufacturing increased 11.7 percent year over year in the preceding fiscal year. Utilizing the revised base year of 201516, the LSM industries’ production estimate was calculated.
In the manufacturing sector as a whole during the fiscal year 20212022, the large-scale manufacturing sectorwhich contributes 9.2 percent of GDPheld a 74.3 percent sectoral share, followed by small-scale manufacturing, which contributed 15.9 percent of GDP.
The textile industry reversed course in July through September, contracting by 3.3 percent from a year earlier. Major declines in growth came from woollen blankets and knitting (down 100%). (down 52.9 percent). The output of yarn and textile was stated to be growing nominally.