WASHINGTON – The World Bank (WB) has lowered Pakistan’s GDP growth prospects to 3.4% for the current fiscal year as the government refocuses on mitigating external pressures and managing long-standing fiscal challenges.
The World Bank issued 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 had projected that Pakistan’s debt would peak to 90.6% of the GDP by end of the current fiscal year. However, it would slightly decline to 89.3% of the GDP in the next fiscal year 2022-23.
Inflation would be hovering around 9% in the current fiscal year, while it might recede to 7.5% in the next fiscal year 2022-23.
The government had sought a real GDP growth target of 4.8% for the current fiscal year 2021-22 against a provisional growth estimate of 3.94% for the last fiscal year 2020-21.