World Bank report states that curren­t macroe­conomi­c challe­nges are a result of past policy choice­sThe World Bank’s latest projections show that Pakistan’s GDP growth is likely to slow down to 3.4 per cent in fiscal year 2018-19, from 5.8 per cent a year before. According to World Bank’s ‘South Asia Economic Focus, Exports Wanted’ report released on Sunday, the slow growth reflects a broad-based weakening in domestic demand as monetary and fiscal policies have been tightened to contain macroeconomic imbalances. The report states that the current macroeconomic challenges are primarily the result of past policy choices and there has been some adjustment over the past year. The current account deficit reached $8.8 billion (3.3 per cent of GDP) at the end of February 2019, compared to $11.4 billion (3.7 per cent of GDP) the year before. A World Bank team will arrive in Pakistan on April 15 to gauge the impact of government reforms for improving the ease of doing business and ranking of Pakistan.

Source: The Express Tribune April 07, 2019 12:33 UTC