Islamabad: Cash-strapped Pakistan’s economy, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, will turn around and grow 1.5-2.5 per cent in the current fiscal year, according to the country’s central bank.
In its annual report for the fiscal 2019-20 released on Wednesday, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said the nation’s economy seems poised to pick up from where it was before the COVID-19 shock, The Express Tribune reported on Wednesday.
Pakistan’s central bank has projected that the COVID-19 hit national economy will turn around and grow 1.5-2.5 per cent in the current fiscal year, the report said.
Like other nations, Pakistan’s economy has been hit hard by the coronavirus effect that has so far claimed the lives of 7,248 people and infected 365,927 others in the country.
Pakistan has already been in a deep financial crisis and has been negotiating a bailout package from the International Monetary fund, apart from taking massive financial help from its close allies, including China.
With the pre-COVID-19 improvement in macroeconomic fundamentals remaining intact and the strong policy response helping to cushion the shock, the economy seems poised to pick up from where it was before the COVID-19 shock, the SBP said.
In September, the central bank had projected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 2 per cent for the current fiscal year.
The government has set the GDP growth target at 2.1 per cent compared to contraction of 0.4 per cent in the previous fiscal year ended June 30, 2020.
The central bank voiced hope that the economy would take off partly with support from the government-backed housing and construction sector, which could activate at least 40 allied industries including paints and wood works, the report said.
It expected improvement in the economy in the backdrop of a couple of successful COVID-19 vaccine trials conducted by US and German companies.
Earlier, the business confidence rose in August as businesses applied for long-term subsidised loans for at least 338 new projects.
The central bank, however, cautioned that the pandemic would continue to pose risk to the economy till the vaccine was widely available around the world, including Pakistan.

Press Trust of India