KARACHI (Reuters) – Pakistan’s economy grew by 0.92% in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2024-25, despite a contraction in the industrial sector, according to data approved by the National Accounts Committee, and released by its Statistics Bureau on Monday.
The South Asian country is navigating a challenging economic recovery path and has been buttressed by a $7 billion facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in September.
The growth was driven by positive performances in the agriculture and services sectors, which grew by 1.15% and 1.43%, respectively, in the first quarter of the fiscal year which ends in June 2025.
Pakistan’s economy grew by 2.69% year-on-year in the first quarter of the previous 2023-24 fiscal year.
However, the industrial sector contracted by 1.03%, mainly due to a decline in mining and quarrying activities during July-September, read the report.
The committee compiling the national accounts approved the introduction of quarterly estimates of expenditure of the economy.
On the basis of latest figures of the national accounts aggregates for the last fiscal year, the overall size of the economy stood at 105.6 trillion Pakistani rupees ($379.31 billion).
Annual per capita income in rupees was recorded at 472,263 Pakistani rupees ($1,696.35).
The committee also approved an updated annual growth rate for the last fiscal year 2023-24, which stood at 2.50%, slightly lower than the previously estimated 2.52%.
($1 = 278.4000 Pakistani rupees)
(Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Editing by Ros Russell)
Comments