Fiscal Budget 2019-20
- Economic Survey of 2018-19 to be unveiled today
- PTI's 'austerity' budget 2019-20 to be presented on June 11
- Defence budget to remain unchanged
'Why do we keep returning to the IMF?': Finance Adviser Abdul Hafeez Shaikh addresses PES presser
Finance Adviser Abdul Hafeez Sheikh has started addressing the press conference revealing the Pakistan Economic Survey report on the economy for fiscal 2018-19.
"It is important for us to understand the fundamental flaws in our economy," he said at the outset of his speech.
Taking note of Pakistan's considerable indebtedness, he brought attention to impending debt repayments to highlight the severity of Pakistan's economic crisis.
"This Rs31 trillion loan and Rs3 trillion interest payments becoming due in the next few years are our biggest challenge," he stressed.
"We need to keep it at the forefront of any discussion on the economy," he said.
Services sector: growth slows in trade, finance, govt services, private services
According to the data received, the biggest slowdown in Services was attributable to the 'wholesale and retail trade' head, which saw growth halve to 3.1pc from 6.5pc a year earlier and missing the target of 7.8pc by a mile.
'Transport, storage and communications' actually experienced more robust growth of 3.3pc compared to 2.1pc last year, but missed the targeted 4.9pc. Housing services maintained momentum from last year, recording 4pc growth and meeting the target set for this head.
'Finance and insurance' also experienced a slowdown in growth to 5.1pc compared to 7pc last year and the targeted 7.5pc for this year.
Meanwhile, 'general government services' and 'private services' both experienced slower growth of 7.9pc and 7pc compared to 11.8pc and 8.1pc last year respectively. However, this was still higher than the target of 7.2pc and 6.8pc set for both heads.
Industry: mining, LSM and construction contract
Under the Industry head, 'mining and quarrying', 'large scale manufacturing' and 'construction' experienced contractions, while 'electricity generation and gas distribution' recorded spectacular 40.5pc growth compared to a targeted 7.5pc and a contraction last year of 9pc.
Meanwhile, 'small and household' industries recorded 8.2pc growth, meeting the target, while 'slaughtering' maintained its momentum from last year with 3.5pc growth, but missed the targeted 3.8pc.
Agricultural growth slowdown: contraction in cotton ginning, important crops
According to the data received by
Dawn, under the agriculture head, the production of important crops and cotton ginning experienced severe contractions, declining by 6.5pc and 12.7pc respectively.
The 'other crops', 'forestry' and 'fishery' heads also recorded contractions, with 'livestock' the only head that recorded better than targeted growth from the previous year.
Initial data outlines severe slowdown in economic growth
Initial data obtained by
Dawn suggests that economic growth underwent quite a jarring slowdown in the outgoing fiscal year.
Overall GDP growth slowed to 3.3pc against the targeted 6.2pc and against last year's 5.5pc.
Under the component heads of the GDP, Agricultural growth over FY 2018/19 sputtered to 0.8pc compared to a targeted 3.8pc and against last year's 3.9pc.
Meanwhile, Industrial growth ground to a mere 1.4pc compared to the targeted 7.6pc and against last year's 4.9pc.
The Services sector likewise grew by a more modest 4.7pc compared to the targeted 6.5pc and against last year's 6.2pc.
Budget to be presented in NA tomorrow
The budget for the fiscal year 2019-20 is scheduled to be presented in the National Assembly tomorrow by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Radio Pakistan reports.
The Economic Survey of 2018-19 will be launched today.
The biggest chunk of projected revenues for FY20 will be used on debt servicing, and that is a problem
When the largest chunk of a country’s annual spending goes to debt servicing for years, there is something seriously wrong with its fiscal management, writes Mohiuddin Aazim in today's
Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly.
But is there a remedy? There is: let the nation starve and continue harsh cost-cutting for as long as required, bring back all the “plundered wealth” of the nation and stop revenue leakages.
But it is easier said than done.
The key factors behind sluggish economic performance in FY19, as per PTI govt
The PTI government does not put all of the blame of the country's current economic woes on past administrations, according to a position paper on economic performance submitted to the National Economic Council.
In the paper, the Planning Commission explained why economic growth decelerated from 5.5 per cent in 2017-18 to 3.3pc in 2018-19.
Unlike its public discourse, the PTI government candidly concedes in its official deliberations that the shrinking size of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), monetary tightening and the higher debt servicing cost owing to substantial currency depreciation are some of the key factors behind the sluggish economic performance in the outgoing fiscal year.
'Why do we keep returning to the IMF?': Finance Adviser Abdul Hafeez Shaikh addresses PES presser
Finance Adviser Abdul Hafeez Sheikh has started addressing the press conference revealing the Pakistan Economic Survey report on the economy for fiscal 2018-19.
"It is important for us to understand the fundamental flaws in our economy," he said at the outset of his speech.
Taking note of Pakistan's considerable indebtedness, he brought attention to impending debt repayments to highlight the severity of Pakistan's economic crisis.
"This Rs31 trillion loan and Rs3 trillion interest payments becoming due in the next few years are our biggest challenge," he stressed.
"We need to keep it at the forefront of any discussion on the economy," he said.