Pakistan :GDP Growth Rate Projection Revised Down to 0.5% for 2023: IMF Report

Pakistan: According to the latest “World Economic Outlook” report released by the International Monetary Fund, Pakistan’s GDP growth rate projection for the current fiscal year 2023 has been revised downwards from two percent to 0.5 percent.

Additionally, the IMF has projected a rise in inflation from 19.9 percent to 27.1 percent and unemployment from 6.2 percent to 7 percent. The World Bank has also lowered its GDP growth projection to 0.4 percent and the Asian Development Bank to 0.6 percent for the same fiscal year. Looking ahead, the IMF predicts Pakistan’s GDP to rise to 3.5 percent in the fiscal year 2024, down from 6 percent in the fiscal year 2022.

The International Monetary Fund has adjusted their projections for Pakistan economy in the current fiscal year, now estimating an inflation rate of 27.1 percent rather than their earlier projection of 19.9 percent. The IMF’s report also indicates that consumer prices rose from 12.1 percent in 2022 to a projected 21.9 percent in 2024.

The unemployment rate is expected to increase from 6.2 percent in 2022 to 7 percent in 2023, with a projected decrease to 6.8 percent in 2024. Regarding the current account balance, the IMF predicts a negative balance of 2.3 percent for 2023, an improvement from the negative 4.6 percent recorded in 2022 and a projection of negative 2.4 percent for 2024.

On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund released their “Global Financial Stability Report: Safeguarding Financial Stability Amid High Inflation And Geopolitical Risks,” which notes that the exchange rates of certain frontier markets (such as Egypt, Ghana, and Pakistan) have experienced significant weakening due to market pressure or official devaluations. The report also highlights a growing disparity between official and parallel market rates in some cases.