The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Tuesday forecast Pakistan’s GDP growth rate unchanged at 4% for the fiscal year 2021-22.
In its recent report “World Economic Outlook October 2021”, the IMF warned that large disparities in COVID-19 vaccine access and in policy support in many developing countries could hamper their economic recoveries.
The Asian Development Bank, in September, had also projected Pakistan’s GDP to reach 4% in the fiscal year 2021-22 (FY22) as business activity gradually resumed in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In its report, the IMF endorsed Pakistan’s provisional figures of GDP growth rate of 3.9% during the previous fiscal year 2020-21.
According to the report, the unemployment rate in Pakistan would also decline from the current 5.0% to 4.8% in the current fiscal year. Similarly, the inflation rate would ease from 8.9% during the year 2020-21 to 8.5% by end of the current fiscal year 2021-22.
Further, the IMF reported that the current account deficit of Pakistan which was recorded at 0.6% in the previous year would increase to 3.1% in FY2021-22.
