Highlighting certain downside risks, the World Bank on Thursday said Pakistan’s economic growth rate slightly came down to 3.4 per cent during the current fiscal year against 3.9pc of last fiscal year. However, it pointed out, the growth rate can hit the 4pc mark in the next fiscal year (2023) if the government implemented key structural reforms, reports Dawn.
“In Pakistan, growth is expected to ease a little to 3.4pc in fiscal year 2021-22, as fiscal and monetary measures are expected to unwind,” said the World Bank in its twice-yearly report South Asia Economic Focus Shifting Gears: Digitisation and Services-Led Development released ahead of annual meetings of the Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
It said potential delays in the IMF programme, high demand-side pressures, potential negative spillovers from the evolving situation in Afghanistan and more severe and contagious Covid-19 waves posed downside risks to the outlook.
The report projected the South Asia Region to grow by 7.1pc in 2021 and 2022. South Asia’s average annual growth is forecast to be 3.4pc over 2020-23, which is three percentage points less than it was in the four years preceding the pandemic.
