Big industry production contracts amid challenges

Despite claims of achieving macroeconomic stability, the Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM), which accounts for 67.5 per cent of the overall manufacturing sector, contracted by 1.5pc during July-March FY25. The Economic Survey, unveiled by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday, attributed this decline to persistent structural bottlenecks, elevated input costs, and contractions leading to negative growth in food, chemicals, iron and steel, and electrical equipment, which continue to hinder a broad-based recovery in LSM. However, the manufacturing sector recorded moderate growth of 1.3pc in July-April compared to 3pc in the preceding year. The survey highlighted that the manufacturing and mining sectors were critical for Pakistan’s industrial base, jointly contributing 13.2pc to GDP.