Islamabad, (Samajweekly) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) here has urged Pakistan to resume robust macroeconomic and structural reforms along with stability to bring economic reforms in the country, said a report.
The ADB said in its report on Tuesday that Pakistan’s economic growth is expected to slow significantly in the ongoing fiscal year starting from July 2022 to June 2023, mainly due to last year’s devastating floods, ballooning inflation, a current account deficit, and an ongoing foreign exchange crisis.
According to the ADB, Pakistan’s GDP growth is projected to slow to 0.6 per cent in fiscal 2023 from 6 per cent in the last fiscal year as the economy struggles to recover, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The growth is forecast to rise to 2 per cent in the next fiscal year, assuming the resumption of macroeconomic stability, implementation of reforms, post-flood recovery, and improving external conditions,” the report added.
Highlighting the challenges to Pakistan, the ADB added that the country has a history of resilience and bouncing back, and “the ADB is committed to continuing to support Pakistan’s economic recovery and development plans”.
The report noted that climate change poses a grave challenge to Pakistan’s economic, social, and environmental development as it ranked among the 10 most vulnerable nations worldwide in the past two decades.
The ADB predicted continued deceleration in Pakistan’s industrial growth, adding, “it reflects fiscal and monetary tightening, a significant depreciation of the local currency, and higher domestic oil and electricity prices.”
The report feared the country’s average inflation would double from 12.2 per cent recorded last fiscal year to 27.5 per cent in the current fiscal year.
Pakistan joined the ADB as a founding member in 1966.
