Pakistan’s large scale manufacturing (LSM) sector grew at a 16-year high level of 14.85% in the fiscal year ended June 30 as government’s pro-growth policies led to expansion in food, textile, automobile and construction-allied sectors.
The outstanding growth in industries’ output was partly backed by higher export orders received mainly by the textile producers in the country. Besides, the growth helped firms to rehire the staff laid off in the wake of nationwide lockdown imposed in March 2020 to deal with the first wave of Covid-19 pandemic. The increased industrial production also helped the concerned authorities collect higher revenue in form of taxes.
“The overall output of LSMI (large scale manufacturing index) increased by 14.85% for July-June 2020-21 compared to a negative growth of 9.8% in July-June 2019-20,” the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported on Friday. “LSMI output is up by 14.85% during FY21, the highest growth since FY05,” Arif Habib Limited (AHL) said on its official Twitter handle.
To recall, Pakistan’s economy turned around with significant support coming from the revival of industries, especially those involved in large scale manufacturing, in FY21. The gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4% in the year compared to a negative growth of 0.5% in the prior fiscal year 2019-20 due to temporary suspension of industrial output under the lockdown.
Out of total 15 sub-sectors in manufacturing, 10 reported revival in output while the remaining five continued to face decline in production.
