According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Thursday, large-scale manufacturing (LSM) shrank 7.75 percent from the previous year in October, with declines seen in the textile, machinery and equipment, and vehicle sectors.
Compared to August, the LSM posted an annual increase of 0.1 percent in September, according to government figures. That represented a significant improvement over July, when the LSM dropped by 1.4 percent annually.
Nevertheless, experts had expressed worries about a downturn in the economy brought on by record energy and raw material costs.
Former finance ministry advisor Dr. Khaqan Najeeb commented on the most recent data, saying, “Facing a balance of payments crisis, the government have implemented a number of measures to slow the economy. These include administrative import restrictions as well as tighter monetary policies. The LSM output has decreased as a result of these actions, as well as floods, energy shortages, and a deteriorating global economy.
The economic decline has been extremely noticeable, Najeeb remarked, despite the fact that it is vital to stabilise the economy.
In order to prevent manufacturing from becoming demotivated, he continued, “it is vital to ease the severe dollar liquidity crunch by increasing inflows and maintaining a reasonable exchange rate.”
Automobiles (down 30.56%), textile (down 24.62%), machinery and equipment (down 38.01%), wood products (down 81.75%), computer, electronics, and optical products (down 25.66%), and medicines were the main causes of the YoY fall (18.56pc).
On the other side, the furniture industry expanded by 105.41 percent, followed by football (up 65.46 percent) and clothing (34.14pc).
According to PBS data, LSM decreased by 3.62 percent in October compared to the month before.
In addition, LSM decreased 2.89 percent between July and October compared to the first four months of the previous fiscal year.
Products
According to the PBS. “The production in July-October 2022-23 compared to July-October 2021-22. Has increased in wearing apparel and furniture while. It has decreased in food, tobacco, textile, coke & petroleum products. Pharmaceuticals. Rubber products. Non-metallic mineral products.Fabricated metal. Electrical equipment. Machinery and equipment. Automobiles. And other transport equipment.”
When manufacturing activity increased by only 0.2 percent in June compared to the prior month, the decline had already begun.
Large-scale manufacturing increased 11.7 percent year over year in the preceding fiscal year.
