World Bank Forecasts Macroeconomic Crisis In Pakistan During Next Two Yeas

(@fidahassanain)

World Bank forecasts macroeconomic crisis in Pakistan during next two yeas

The bank says that despite of having an IMF extended fund facility, the country’s economic growth is expected to remain low in the near term.

ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-14th Oct, 2019) The World Bank has predicted another macroeconomic crisis due to massive twin deficits and low foreign reserves, reports suggest.

The World Bank has forecasted Pakistan’s economic growth will slow down during the next two years, the reports say. According to a report entitled “South Asia Focus: Making (De)centralisation Work” released from Washington on Sunday made these tense revelations about Pakistan’s economy.

The WB, in its annual report, also pointed out that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government would miss inflation, public debt, and fiscal deficit reduction targets, while underlining major challenges that the government will encounter at least till the end

It stated: “GDP growth (at factor cost) decelerated to 3.3 percent in FY19 – 2.2 percentage points lower than FY18 - as gradual policy adjustments to tackle macroeconomic imbalances started to take effect. These adjustments included a tightened monetary stance, cuts in public sector development expenditures, and enhanced focus on higher tax collections. As a result, large scale manufacturing, which accounts for half of overall industrial output, contracted by 3.6 percent in FY19. The services sector, which contributes over 60 percent to total output, decelerated to 4.7 percent in FY19 compared to 6.2 percent last year.”

The world Bank also said that despite of having an IMF extended fund facility, the country’s economic growth was expected to remain low in the near term and that Pakistan’s economic behaviour was different than all the other South Asian countries.

Fida Hussnain

Fida Hussnain is a lahore based journalist. He writes on politics, religion, social issues and climate change. He is also a research fellow at University of Gujrat.