Lenders trim Pakistan’s growth forecast to 0.4pc

The World Bank on Tuesday projected about four million people falling below the lower middle-income poverty line amid economic growth plummeting to just 0.4 per cent against a budgeted target of 5pc. Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has forecast Pakistan’s economic growth plunging to 0.6pc from 6pc last year owing to the prevailing political crisis, flood-oriented economic losses, foreign exchange challenges and tighter macroeconomic policies at home and a challenging external environment. “In the absence of public transfers that cover income losses or mitigate the impact of higher prices, poverty measured at the lower middle-income poverty line ($3.65 per day 2017 PPP per capita) is projected to increase to 37.2pc in FY23, pushing an additional 3.9 million people into poverty as compared to FY22,” said the Washington-based lending agency in its flagship Pakistan Development Update (PDU) 2023, adding that “the depth and severity of poverty has also increased, reflecting the overlapping impacts of multiple shocks and households’ lack of savings to mitigate short-term impacts”.