GDP figure under PDM rule ‘turns negative’

Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) had contracted by 0.17 per cent rather than growing by 0.29pc during FY23 under the PDM-led coalition government while GDP growth in FY22 under the PTI regime was slightly higher than previously estimated. This was officially confirmed on Tuesday by the National Accounts Committee (NAC) which also approved the first quarter (July-September 2023-24) GDP growth rate at 2.13pc. The government for the first time has released economic performance on a quarterly basis under a strict deadline of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). All three results — revised for FY22 and FY23 and Quarterly National Accounts (QNA) for Q1FY24 — are based on the 2015-16 base year. The government was obligated under the structural benchmark of IMF’s Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) that “PBS will compile and disseminate the first-quarter estimates for 2023-24 and the revised annual estimates for 2022-23 by the end of November”. As such, the NAC concluded that the national economy witnessed recovery in Q1FY24 by posting a growth of 2.13pc as compared to 0.96pc in Q1FY23.