Monthly Update Outlook Report on National Economy Released

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Finance has released a monthly updated outlook report on the country’s economy, which said that economic recovery and acceleration in activities are continuing.

According to the report of the Ministry of Finance, industrial and agricultural production has improved while tax revenue and remittances have increased. In July-April, remittances increased by 29% to $26.7 billion. Domestic exports rose 10.3 per cent to  $23.1 billion, while imports rose 17.9 per cent to $47.3 billion.

‘Current account balance once again recorded a surplus of 20 200 million, current account balance recorded 0.1% of GDP, portfolio investment reached  $1.75 billion with a positive trend, foreign direct investment increased by 107% to $3.92 billion while total Foreign exchange reserves reached $22.96 billion by the end of May.

The report said that SBP’s reserves stood at  $15.79 billion and commercial banks’ reserves at $7.17 billion. The exchange rate reached Rs 158.53 per dollar. Tax revenue rose 17.5 per cent to Rs 4,170 billion. In the first 10 months, non-tax revenue declined by 6.5 per cent to Rs 1,216 billion.

The Ministry of Finance said that in the first 10 months, Rs. The annual rate of inflation rose to 8.8 per cent in July-May.

The monthly update Outlook report further said that the growth rate of major industries reached 68.1% in April, 12.8% in July-April, and the stock exchange index crossed 47,901 points.