The growth rate forecast of Pakistan's economy increased significantly during 2021-22, making it the second-highest economic growth recorded over the past four years suggesting recovery of the economy from the Covid-19 pandemic, reports DAWN.
The projection came at a time when the US dollar reached the startling milestone of Rs200 as trading closed on Thursday afternoon, gaining Re1.00 from the previous day's close of Rs199, data by the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP) showed.
The projection that Pakistan's economy will grow at a rate of 5.97 per cent in 2021-22 is much higher than the projections of 4pc and 4.3pc by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, respectively, for the same year.
This projection came as a surprise when it was feared the fuel subsidies would ditch the growth forecast. The growth was mainly contributed by the industrial sector, followed by services and agriculture sectors. In the agriculture sector, a robust growth was seen in four major crops - cotton, rice, sugarcane and maize - while a dip was noted in wheat production.
The 105th meeting of the National Accounts Committee, chaired by Planning Secretary Dawood Muhmmad Bareach, approved the figures of gross domestic product (GDP) for the fiscal year 2021-22 and revised figures for 2020-21.
The size of the economy rose to $380 billion in 2021-22 from the revised figure of $346.76bn the previous year. The size of the economy grew in dollar terms.
Per capita income has also been calculated at Rs314,353, up from Rs268,223 for 2020-21. The per capita income in dollar terms has jumped to $1,798 from previous year's projections of $1,676.
The revised GDP growth rate for the year 2020-21 is 5.74pc, which was provisionally estimated at 5.57pc. The crops sub-sector has improved from 5.92pc to 5.96pc. Other crops have improved from provisional growth of 8.08pc to 8.27pc in revised estimates. The industrial sector's growth in the revised estimates is 7.81pc, which was 7.79pc in the provisional estimates, while the services sector's growth has improved from 5.7pc to 6pc.
According to FAP data, the US currency reached the all-time high of Rs200.10 around 1:45pm in the interbank market before settling to Rs200 by close. It was trading at Rs201 in the open market at 3:50pm.
A day ago, the greenback had made a significant gain of more than Rs2 from Tuesday's close and settled at Rs199 at the session's end, which was the latest in a string of record highs that the US currency has been hitting since last Tuesday.
While the FAP recorded the previous day's closing rate at Rs199, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan stated the closing rate as Rs198.39 - still remarkably close to the Rs200 milestone that the international currency was being anticipated to reach earlier in the day on account of the country's rising import bill, growing current account deficit and depleting foreign exchange reserves.
According to Saad Bin Naseer, co-founder and director of web-based financial data and analytics portal Mettis Global, the rupee's fall is mainly on account of a lack of clarity from the government on its plans to arrest the decline in foreign exchange reserves.
He pointed out that the central bank's reserves were down by $7.5bn since January 1, adding that importers were engaged in panic buying as they were uncertain about whether the government would be able to secure funding from China, Saudi Arabia and the International Monetary Fund, talks with which are underway.
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