Pakistan Quarterly Trade Bulletin: Third Quarter Review FY18 & GSP Plus Issue Volume 1, Issue 1 (January – March 2018)

Abstract

Pakistan‟s economy managed to build upon the growth momentum from fiscal year (FY) 2016-17 and grew by 5.8% during FY18. This was contributed by the growth in; a) commodity producing sectors i.e. agriculture (3.8%) and manufacturing (6.2%), and b) services sector which registered a provisional full year growth of 6.4% (Table 1). Overall macroeconomic stability contributed to business confidence in the country. Investment to GDP ratio increased from 16.1% in FY17 to 16.4% in FY18 on the back of improved energy supplies, low policy rate, higher public sector development program (PSDP) spending, and expected timely completion of early harvest projects under CPEC program. Despite of expansion in most sectors of the economy and expansion in government expenditures, inflation (growth in consumer price index) was curtailed below 4% in FY18.