Shrinking global GDP will compound Pakistan’s problems.

New-MZH

Special attention be given to inflation, rupee and rising debt Direction of economy should be corrected: Mian Zahid Hussain Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain said on Monday that some economic sectors will be hit as the world GDP declines. Policymakers should take action to tackle the situation, with a special focus on rising debt, inflation, and the value of the rupee, he said. The economy should be headed in the right…

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World economy will slow further off its pre-Covid pace in 2024, UN projects

World-economy

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations (UN) issued a somber global economic forecast for 2024, pointing to challenges from escalating conflicts, sluggish global trade, persistently high interest rates and increasing climate disasters. In its flagship economic report, the UN projected that global economic growth would slow to 2.4% this year from an estimated 2.7% in 2023, which exceeds expectations. But both are still below the 3% growth rate before the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020, it said. The UN forecast is lower than those of the International Monetary Fund in October and…

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Murky politics in a fragile economy

economy

In the development decade of the 1960s, the issue of trade and not aid cropped up because much of the industrialisation was debt-driven and business leaders started talking about increasing domestic savings, investment, production and exports. But over time, the trade gap mostly continued to widen. Tight monetary policy to depress domestic demand and ease external sector pressures resulted in de-industrialisation. Farm production suffered badly due to backward cultural practices and a lack of modernisation of agriculture. Agri-food imports rose by 64 per cent to $3.847 billion during July-December 2023.…

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India to be third-largest economy by 2030: S&P

expects-India

BENGALURU: India will remain the fastest-growing major economy for at least the next three years, setting it on course to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2030, S&P Global Ratings said in a report. S&P expects India, currently the world’s fifth-largest economy, to grow at 6.4 per cent this fiscal year and estimates growth will pick up to 7pc by FY27. In contrast, it expects China’s growth to slow to 4.6pc by 2026 from an estimated 5.4pc this year. India’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew a bigger-than-expected 7.6pc in the…

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Is the worst behind Pakistan’s economy?

Pakistan-economy

ISLAMABAD: While it remains too early to assert definitively, several indicators suggest that Pakistan’s economy may have weathered the worst of its recent challenges. There were serious concerns that due to the IMF’s push for easing import controls and letting the exchange rate float, the rupee may see further free fall. However, after hitting a record low of Rs335 on September 5, the rupee is regaining ground, stabilising at approximately Rs292 to the US dollar, a level where the caretakers inherited. Foreign exchange reserves have surged past $13 billion, including…

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