Pakistan
Economy
|
Latest
Economy 2005 : Under
President Pervez Musharraf and Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz,
Pakistan has achieved remarkable turnaround in its economic and
fiscal situation.
This was reported by Adam Harper of the Asian Review of the year who
interviewed Dr Ashfaq Hassan Khan, Director-General, Pakistan's
Debt Office, and Economic Advisor to the Finance Ministry.
Special
Report: Pakistan takes on India and China
Prime
minister tells John Waples his country is awash with opportunities
for foreign investors
THEY call Yasin Lakhani, chairman of Karachi's stock exchange, the
"incorrigible bull". And last Thursday he was in full charge
when the index closed at a record 7,014. |
Pakistan, an impoverished and underdeveloped country, has
suffered from decades of internal political disputes, low
levels of foreign investment, and a costly, ongoing
confrontation with neighboring India. However, IMF-approved
government policies, bolstered by generous foreign assistance
and renewed access to global markets since late 2001, have
generated solid macroeconomic recovery the last two years. The
government has made substantial inroads in macroeconomic
reform since 2000, although progress on more politically
sensitive reforms has slowed. For example, in the third and
final year of its $1.3 billion IMF Poverty Reduction and
Growth Facility, Islamabad has continued to require waivers
for energy sector reforms. While long-term prospects remain
uncertain, given Pakistan's low level of development,
medium-term prospects for job creation and poverty reduction
are the best in nearly a decade. Islamabad has raised
development spending from about 2% of GDP in the 1990s to 4%
in 2003, a necessary step towards reversing the broad
underdevelopment of its social sector. GDP growth is heavily
dependent on rain-fed crops, and last year's end to a
four-year drought should support moderate agricultural growth
for the next few years. Foreign exchange reserves continued to
reach new levels in 2003, supported by robust export growth
and steady worker remittances.
|
GDP:
|
purchasing
power parity - $318 billion (2004 est.) |
|
GDP - real growth rate:
|
5.5%
(2004 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita:
|
purchasing
power parity - $2,100 (2004 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by
sector:
|
agriculture:
23.3%
industry: 23.5%
services: 53.2% (2004 est.) |
|
Investment (gross
fixed):
|
12.9%
of GDP (2004 est.) |
|
Population below poverty
line:
|
35%
(2004 est.) |
|
Household income or
consumption by percentage share:
|
lowest
10%: 4.1%
highest 10%: 27.6% (FY96/97) |
|
Distribution of family
income - Gini index:
|
41
(FY98/99) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer
prices):
|
2.9%
(2004 est.) |
|
Labor force:
|
43.98
million
note: extensive export of labor, mostly to the
Middle East, and use of child labor (2004 est.) |
|
Labor force - by
occupation:
|
agriculture
44%, industry 17%, services 39% (1999 est.) |
|
Unemployment rate:
|
7.7%
plus substantial underemployment (2004 est.) |
|
Budget:
|
revenues:
$12.08 billion
expenditures: $15.41 billion, including capital
expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
|
Public debt:
|
72.7%
of GDP (2004 est.) |
|
Agriculture - products:
|
cotton,
wheat, rice, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; milk, beef,
mutton, eggs |
|
Industries:
|
textiles
and apparel, food processing, pharmaceuticals,
construction materials, paper products, fertilizer,
shrimp |
|
Industrial production
growth rate:
|
7.6%
(2004 est.) |
|
Electricity -
production:
|
66.96
billion kWh (2001) |
|
Electricity -
consumption:
|
62.27
billion kWh (2001) |
|
Electricity - exports:
|
0
kWh (2001) |
|
Electricity - imports:
|
0
kWh (2001) |
|
Oil - production:
|
62,870
bbl/day (2004 est.) |
|
Oil - consumption:
|
365,000
bbl/day (2001 est.) |
|
Oil - exports:
|
NA
(2001) |
|
Oil - imports:
|
NA
(2001) |
|
Oil - proved reserves:
|
297.1
million bbl (2004) |
|
Natural gas -
production:
|
23.4
billion cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas -
consumption:
|
23.4
billion cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - exports:
|
0
cu m NA (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - imports:
|
0
cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - proved
reserves:
|
695.6
billion cu m (2004) |
|
Current account balance:
|
$3.358
billion (2004 est.) |
|
Exports:
|
$11.7
billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) |
|
Exports - commodities:
|
textiles
(garments, bed linen, cotton cloth, and yarn), rice,
leather goods, sports goods, chemicals, manufactures,
carpets and rugs |
|
Exports - partners:
|
US
23.1%, UAE 9.4%, UK 7.1%, Germany 5.1%, Hong Kong 4.6%
(2003) |
|
Imports:
|
$12.51
billion f.o.b. (2003 est.) |
|
Imports - commodities:
|
petroleum,
petroleum products, machinery, plastics, transportation
equipment, edible oils, paper and paperboard, iron and
steel, tea |
|
Imports - partners:
|
UAE
11.2%, Saudi Arabia 10.9%, China 7.3%, Japan 6.6%,
Kuwait 6.4%, US 6%, Malaysia 4.6%, Germany 4.4%,
Singapore 4% (2003) |
|
Reserves of foreign
exchange & gold:
|
$11.67
billion (2004 est.) |
|
Debt - external:
|
$33.54
billion (2004 est.) |
|
Economic aid -
recipient:
|
$2.4
billion (FY01/02) |
|
Currency:
|
Pakistani
rupee (PKR) |
|
Currency code:
|
PKR |
|
Exchange rates:
|
Pakistani
rupees per US dollar - 57.752 (2003), 59.7238 (2002),
61.9272 (2001), 53.6482 (2000), 49.1183 (1999) |
|
Fiscal year:
|
1
July - 30 June
|
|
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