Karachi: The National Accounts Committee (NAC) of Pakistan has approved the revised annual growth rates for FY 2022-23 and FY 2023-24, with the first quarter GDP growth rate for FY 2024-25, as reported by ARY.
The revised growth rate for FY 2023-24 now stands at 2.50 percent that is slightly adjusted from the previous 2.52 percent. The committee also mentioned an improvement in important crops from 17.02 percent to 17.12 percent.
While, the agricultural sector faced a minor dip to 6.18 percent from an earlier 6.36 percent. This dip was mainly due to a downward revision in forestry production, which dropped from 3.05 percent to -0.89 percent due to reduced timber production.
The industrial sector showed further contraction, with growth slipping to -1.65 percent from the previous -1.15 percent. The mining and quarrying sector experienced a steep decline, moving to -4.16 percent from 3.47 percent. This drop was primarily due to reduced coal production (-5.21 percent) and limestone output (-25.8 percent) in KPK and Balochistan provinces.
While, the services sector showcased notable improvements. Transport showed growth from 1.91 percent to 2.12 percent, while information and communication services increased from 0.30 percent to 3.45 percent.
Moreover, education rose from 8.55 percent to 9.05 percent, and health services improved from 5.55 percent to 5.99 percent that is leading to an overall growth rate in the services sector of 2.35 percent, compared to the earlier 2.15 percent.
These results reveal a mixed performance across sectors while some areas showing resilience and progress while others faced persistent challenges that may require targeted measures for further improvement.
On December 26, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb vowed to raise Pakistan’s tax-to-GDP ratio to 13 percent within the next three years.
Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad alongside Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Minister of State for Finance Ali Pervez Malik, the FM emphasized the significance of taxation reforms in stabilizing the country’s fiscal standings.
He highlighted that Pakistan has been stuck in the 9-10 percent range for its tax-to-GDP ratio and stressed the importance of achieving the new target of 13.5%.
FM also shared updates on the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) digitalization efforts, which aim to increase transparency and efficiency. PM Shehbaz Sharif approved the design phase for this project in September, and the program is now moving into the execution phase.
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