HIGHLIGHTS

Pakistan Economic Survey 2023-24

Global Economic Situation

▪ Global growth decelerated due to sluggish performance in advanced
economies amid contractionary monetary policy stance to tackle
inflation.
▪ Global economic growth has slowed down from 3.5% in 2022 to 3.2% in
2023 and is projected to continue the same pace in 2024 and 2025,
below the historical (2000-2019) annual average of 3.8%.
▪ Global inflation is expected to fall from 6.8% in 2023 to 5.9 % in 2024
and 4.5 % in 2025.
▪ World merchandise trade volume is projected to grow by 2.6% in 2024 (-
1.2% in 2023) before picking up to 3.3% in 2025 (WTO).
▪ Geopolitical tensions have emerged as the predominant risk to the global
economic landscape. Presently, conflicts in Eastern Europe and the
Middle East, critical hubs for global food and energy distribution, pose
imminent challenges.
Growth and Investment
▪ The real GDP posted a growth of 2.38 percent in FY2024. The prudent
policy management and the resumption of inflows from multilateral and
bilateral partners, and the gradual economic recovery in the major
trading partners, turned the negative growth in FY2023 to positive
growth in FY2024.
▪ The robust growth in agriculture sector, the highest in last 19 years
emerged as the key driver of economic growth in FY2024.
▪ The prolonged inflationary impact is gradually fading in FY2024. The
inflation is trending downward steadily since third quarter of FY2024.
This improvement is picking up the aggregate demand along with the
resilient external sector and fiscal consolidation.
 ▪ GDP at current market prices increased to Rs.106,045 billion in FY2024,
showing a growth of 26.4 percent over (Rs. 83,875 billion) last year.
▪ Per capita income increased by US$129 to US$1680 as compared to
US$1,551 of last year on the account of increase in economic activity
and appreciation in the exchange rate.
▪ The investment to GDP ratio stood at 13.14 percent in FY2024 compared
to 14.13 percent in FY2023 mainly due to contractionary
macroeconomic policies and political uncertainty.
▪ The saving to GDP ratio recorded at 13.0 percent in FY2024 compared to
13.2% in FY2023.
▪ The growth of agriculture sector estimated at 6.25 percent in FY2024.
This growth is mainly driven by 16.82 percent growth in important crops
such as wheat, rice and cotton.
▪ The industrial sector posted a positive growth of 1.21 percent in FY2024.
Industrial sector performance is mainly driven by the manufacturing
sector (2.42%) and construction sector (5.86%).
▪ Services sector constitutes the largest share of 57.7 percent in GDP for
FY2024. This sector also witnessed a moderate growth of 1.21 percent.
Agriculture
▪ The agriculture sector in Pakistan witnessed robust growth in FY2024,
with an overall increase of 6.25 percent.
▪ The rise in production of important crops (16.82%) is attributed to the
production of cotton (108.2%, 10.22 million bales compared to 4.91
million bales), rice (34.8%, 9.87 million tonnes compared to 7.32 million
tonnes), and wheat (11.6%, 31.44 million tonnes from 28.16 million
tonnes).
▪ However, sugarcane and maize declined by 0.4 percent and 10.4
percent, respectively, which can be partially attributed to the crop
switching. As such, the production of both crops is largely comparable,
with sugarcane standing at 87.64 million tonnes against 87.98 million
tonnes and maize at 9.85 million tonnes compared to 10.99 million
tonnes.
 ▪ Other crops have also shown a growth of 0.90 percent as compared to
the contraction of 0.92 percent last year because of growth in fruits
(8.40%), vegetables (5.77%) and pulses (1.45%).
▪ Cotton ginning, having a share of 1.34 percent in the agriculture sector
and 0.32 percent in GDP, grew by 47.23 percent on the back of high
growth in cotton production.
▪ Livestock, with a significant share of 60.84 percent in agriculture and
14.63 percent in GDP, grew by 3.89 percent compared to 3.70 percent
last year.
▪ Forestry, having a share of 2.33 percent in agriculture, grew by 3.05
percent compared to 16.63 percent last year.
▪ Fishing, with a sectoral share of 1.30 percent has shown a growth of 0.81
percent against 0.60 percent during last year.
Manufacturing and Mining
▪ Manufacturing activity started to recover in FY2024, but still remained
below the potential due to weak market sentiments, global supply
disruptions, and heavy reliance on imports.
▪ In addition, rising input costs, a struggling textile sector, lower
government spending, high inflation, and elevated policy rates
compounded the issue. This was further strained by political and
economic uncertainty before the election and subdued global demand.
▪ Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) declined by 0.1 percent during Jul-Mar
FY2024 compared to decline of 7.0 percent last year.
▪ Machinery & Equipments recorded highest growth of 61.5 percent,
followed by Pharmaceuticals (23.2%), Furniture (23.1%), Wood products
(12.1%), Chemicals (8.0%), Wearing apparel (5.4%), Leather products
(5.3%), Coke & Petroleum products (4.9%), Rubber products (3.6%) and
Food (1.7%).
▪ The sectors which recorded negative growth are Automobiles (37.4%),
Tobacco (33.6%), Computer, electronic & optical products (16.0%),
Textile (8.3%), Electrical equipment (7.5%), Nonmetallic mineral
 products (3.9%), Beverages (3.4%), Iron & steel products (2.2%) and
Paper & Board (2.0%).
▪ The Mining and Quarrying sector posted growth of 4.9 percent during
FY2024 against contraction of 3.3 percent last year.
▪ July-March FY2024, production of minerals witnessed significant growth
such as Coal (37.7%), Chromite (36.9%), Iron Ore (63.9%), Soap stone
(29.3%), Magnesite (34.4%) and Marble (23.2%).
▪ However, some minerals witnessed negative growth such as Natural Gas
(2.0%), Dolomite (2.1%), Sulphur (20.3%), Barytes (10.9%) and Ocher
(24.8%).
▪ The establishment of the SIFC aims to enhance Pakistan’s business
environment by adopting a cooperative approach, attracting domestic
and foreign investments across crucial sectors like defense production,
agriculture, mining, IT, and energy, thereby facilitating the recovery and
accelerated performance of the LSM sector in the medium term.
Fiscal Development
▪ In FY2024, the consolidation measures boosted revenues, however,
expenditure remained under pressure due to higher markup payments.
▪ The fiscal deficit stood at 3.7 percent of GDP during July-March FY2024
the same as last year.
▪ Measures to control non-mark-up spending and revenue mobilization
helped in improving the primary surplus to Rs.1615.4 billion (1.5% of
GDP) during July-March FY2024 from Rs.503.8 billion (0.6% of GDP) last
year.
▪ Total expenditure increased by 36.6 percent to Rs 13,682.8 billion in
July-March FY2024 from Rs 10,016.9 billion last year. Current
expenditures grew by 33.4 percent to Rs 12,333.3 billion during July-
March FY2024 from Rs 9,244.6 billion last year.
▪ Total development expenditures grew by 14.2 percent to Rs.1,158.1
billion against Rs.1,014.0 billion last year. The Federal PSDP (including
development grants to provinces) stood at Rs 321.6 billion during July-
 March FY2024 against Rs 328.8 billion last year, showing a decline of 2.2
percent.
▪ Total revenues grew by 41.0 percent to Rs 9,780.4 billion in July-March
FY2024 against Rs 6,938.2 billion last year. Non-tax collection grew by
90.7 percent to Rs.2,517.9 billion during July-March FY2024 against
Rs.1,320.5 billion last year.
▪ Total tax collection grew by 29.3 percent to Rs.7,262.5 billion during
July-March FY2024 against Rs.5,617.7 billion last year. A considerable
improvement in tax collection has been observed on the back of various
tax-enhancing measures implemented under the Finance Act 2023.
▪ FBR net provisional tax collection during July-May, FY2024, increased by
30.8 percent to Rs. 8,125.7 billion against Rs 6,210.1 billion last year.
▪ During July-March, FY2024, all four provinces posted a combined surplus
of Rs.435.5 billion against Rs.456.0 billion last year.
▪ The government is committed to strengthening public finances through
various reforms and initiatives both on the revenue and expenditure
sides. These reforms will not only reduce dependency on borrowing and
avoid debt-related risk but simultaneously it will create sufficient space
for social assistance and development spending.
Money and Credit
▪ To fight against historic high inflation, central banks around the world
had adopted tight monetary policy stance by increasing interest rates
during last two years.
▪ However, market is getting signals of well-anchored inflation
expectations - amid investor confidence.
▪ At the global level, it is expected that central banks will gradually move
to a more neutral policy stance to achieve target inflation and maintain
well-anchored inflation expectations.
▪ SBP has maintained the policy rate at 22% in seven consecutive
monetary policy decisions during July-April FY2024.
 ▪ During July-March FY2024, Broad Money (M2) has posted growth of
7.0% to Rs 2,216.1 billion as compared growth of 4.4% to Rs 1,211.5
billion during same period last year.
▪ During July-March FY2024, Net Foreign Assets (NFA) of banking system
witnessed an expansion of Rs 529.7 billion as compared decline of Rs
2,073 billion during same period last year.
▪ During July-March FY2024, Net Domestic Assets (NDA) of the banking
system increased by Rs 1,686.5 billion as compared to Rs 3,284.5 billion
last year.
▪ During July-March FY2024, private sector credit decelerated to Rs 188
billion against expansion of Rs 300 billion last year.
▪ During July-March FY2024, loans for consumer financing witnessed net
retirement of Rs 52.6 billion against retirement of Rs 21.1 billion last
year.
▪ During July-March FY2024, Currency in Circulation lowered by Rs 498
billion as compared an increase of Rs 699 billion last year.
▪ During July-March FY2024, Bank Deposits mobilization remained Rs 2,703
billion against deposits of Rs 512 billion last year.
Capital Markets and Corporate Sector
▪ The performance of major world stock markets (US, France, India, China,
and Pakistan) remained robust except Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE)
Composite Index of China. Primarily, the property sector crisis in China
slightly dented the investors’ sentiments.
▪ The KSE-100 index of Pakistan posted a significant growth of 82.8
percent from 41,453 (end June 2023) to 75,878 (end May 2024) owing to
successful IMF’s program under Stand-by Arrangement and stability on
economic & political front.
▪ The Morgan Stanley Capital International Emerging Market (MSCI-EM)
Index, an index of 24 emerging stock markets, increased by 6.0 percent
during July-May FY2024.
▪ Increase has been observed in BSE Sensex Index of India (14.3%), Kuala
Lumpur Composite Index of Malaysia (16.0%), Jakarta Stock Exchange
 Composite Index of Indonesia (4.6%) and Korean Composite Stock Price
Index of South Korea (2.8%)
▪ Decrease has been observed in SET Index of Thailand (10.5%), Shanghai
Composite Index of China (3.6%), and PSEi Composite Index of
Philippines (0.5%).
▪ Market capitalization of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) increased by
59.7 percent to Rs 10,170 billion by end May 2024 against Rs 6,369
billion on 30th June 2023.
▪ As of May 31, 2024, the number of listed companies at PSX stood at 524.
▪ During July-March FY2024, 04 new companies listed at PSX.
▪ The product basket of National Savings Scheme (Defence Savings
Certificates, Special Savings Certificates, Special Savings Accounts,
Regular Income Certificates, Prize Bonds etc.) witnessed an outflow of Rs
105.0 billion during July-March FY2024 as compared to an outflow of Rs
308.2 billion last year.
▪ During July-March FY2024, 20,810 new companies were incorporated
with SECP, with capitalization of Rs 33.0 billion. Most companies were
registered in Information Technology (2,700), Trading Sector (2,475) and
Services Sector (2,299).
▪ During July-March FY2024, 3.4 million lots of different commodity futures
contracts including gold, crude oil, and US equity indices worth Rs. 4.1
trillion were traded on PMEX which is 14.5 percent higher than last year.
Inflation
▪ The coordinated policy response helped to reduce inflation significantly
to 11.8 percent in May 2024 from its peak of 38 percent recorded in May
2023. It is lowest inflation after 30 months.
▪ The decline in inflation is broad-based, reflecting the combined impact
of monetary tightening, fiscal consolidation, smooth supplies of food
items, favorable global commodity prices, and base effect.
▪ The headline CPI national inflation, averaged at 24.5 percent during July-
May, FY 2024 against 29.2 percent last year.
 ▪ Food inflation-Urban during July-May, FY 2024, is recorded at 24.2
percent and non-food 25.7 percent as against 37.3 percent and 20.3
percent in the corresponding period last year.
▪ Food inflation-Rural during July-May, FY 2024, is recorded at 23.7
percent and non-food 23.8 percent as against 41.1 percent and 24.9
percent in the corresponding period last year.
▪ Core inflation-Urban and Rural during July-May, FY 2024, stood at 16.4
percent and 23.3 percent, respectively against 16.0 percent and 20.1
percent last year.
▪ WPI inflation during July-May, FY 2024 is recorded at 21.1 percent
against 33.9 percent last year.
▪ SPI inflation stood at 28.7 percent during July-May, FY 2024 against 32.8
percent last year.
▪ The government is taking various administrative, policy and relief
measures to control the inflationary pressure.
▪ Despite the Middle East conflict raising geopolitical risks, commodity
markets have remained calm. This stability helps maintain Pakistan’s
downward inflation trend, though there is an upside risk due to potential
future market disruptions.
Trade and Payments
▪ The global merchandise trade for 2023 declined by 5 percent to
US$24.01 trillion owing to global slowdown, trade fragmentation and
geopolitical tensions.
▪ According to WTO, global merchandise trade is expected to grow by 2.6
percent in 2024 and 3.3 percent in 2025. Downside risks includes:
geopolitical tensions, rising protectionism, policy uncertainty, and supply
disruptions.
▪ Pakistan’s external account improved considerably during Jul-Apr
FY2024 as CAD narrowed down by 94.8 percent to US$0.2 billion as
compared to US$3.9 billion same period last year.
 ▪ Trade deficit of goods contained by 21.6 percent to US$17.7 billion in
Jul-Apr FY2024 as compared to US$22.6 billion last year on account of
significant decline in imports.
▪ The services account deficit reached US$1.9 billion in Jul-Apr FY2024 as
against US$0.5 billion last year, owing to a sharp increase in services
imports.
▪ The primary income account deficit increased by 34.8 percent to US$6.1
billion in Jul-Apr FY2024, as against deficit of US$4.6 billion due to higher
dividend repatriation and interest payments.
▪ Remittances grew by 3.5 percent during Jul-Apr FY2024 and recorded at
US$ 23.8 billion as against US$ 23.0 billion last year, owing to structural
reforms related to exchange companies and facilitation under PRI.
▪ The financial account witnessed net inflows of US$3.9 billion during Jul-
Apr FY2024 mainly augmented by inflows under IMF’s SBA and from
friendly countries, against outflows of US$0.6 billion last year.
▪ FDI inflows increased by 8.1 percent to $1.5 billion during Jul-Apr FY2024
compared to $1.3 billion in the same period last year.
▪ The FOREX reserves recorded at US$14.0 billion including SBP’s reserves
of US$8.9 billion as on June 05, 2024.
▪ The PKR appreciated by almost 2.8 percent, from the end–June 2023 till
May 2024.
Public Debt
▪ Total public debt stood at Rs.67,525 billion by end-March 2024.
▪ Out of which, domestic debt recorded at Rs.43,432 billion while external
debt reached Rs.24,093 billion (US$ 86.7 billion).
▪ During Jul-Mar FY2024, total interest expense on public debt recorded at
Rs. 5,518 billion, of which, Rs. 4,807 billion as interest on domestic debt
and Rs. 710 billion on external debt.
▪ Around 88 percent of financing of fiscal deficit carried out through
domestic markets, whereas 12 percent from external sources.
 ▪ Within domestic debt, the Government relied on long-term domestic
debt securities.
▪ The Government retired Treasury Bills amounting to Rs 0.8 trillion which
led to a reduction of short-term maturities.
▪ Government undertook amendments in the Treasury Bills Rules, 1998
and Ijara Sukuk Rules, 2008 for competitive debt management
operations, improved transparency and diversified investor base.
▪ The government carried out maiden auction of 1-year fixed rate Ijara
Sukuk on PSX in December 2023. The whole Sukuk auction system has
now been shifted to PSX.
▪ In addition to existing 3 year and 5 year Ijara Sukuk instruments,
Government introduced a 1 year discounted Sukuk instrument to
diversify shariah compliant instrument base with more options to
investors with appetite towards Islamic investments.
▪ Government successfully issued Shariah Compliant Sukuk instruments
amounting to around Rs. 1.5 trillion.
▪ External budgetary disbursements recorded at US$ 6.3 billion, from
multilateral sources (US$ 2.7 billion), bilateral development partners
(US$ 2.8 billion) and Naya Pakistan Certificates (US$ 0.8 billion).
▪ Government also received US$ 1.9 billion under the IMF’s SBA and US$
1.0 billion bilateral deposit from UAE.
Education
▪ According to the Labor Force Survey 2020-21, the literacy rate in
Pakistan stood at 62.8 percent in 2020-21 as compared to 62.4 percent
in 2018-19. The rate is higher for Males (73.4%) than females (51.9%)
however, the disparity is narrowing down with time.
▪ Area-wise analysis suggests literacy increased in both rural (53.7% to
54.0%) and urban (76.1 % to 77.3%).
▪ Literacy rate had registered improvement in all provinces in FY2021,
Punjab (66.1% to 66.3%), Sindh (61.6% to 61.8%), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
(52.4% to 55.1%) and Balochistan (53.9% to 54.5%).
 ▪ Out of School Children (OOSC) are 32% (Male: 27%, Female: 37%)– as
per PSLM 2019-20. Punjab has 24%, KP 32%, Sindh 44%, and Balochistan
47% OOSC.
▪ The “Challenge Fund to Address the OOSC Crisis in Pakistan” project,
costing Rs. 25.0 billion, launched by the Planning Commission, aims to
provide quality education to all inhabitants, enhance girls’ education
through various approaches, ensure a suitable learning environment for
different OOSC groups, and expand community engagement through
multifaceted interventions.
▪ During FY2024, the Government has allocated Rs 69.7 billion (including
Rs. 10 billion for PM’s Laptop Scheme) to HEC for implementation of 169
development projects (139 ongoing & 30 new approved projects) of
Public Sector Universities/HEIs. During July-May FY2024, an amount of
Rs 47.1 billion was released.
▪ Cumulative education expenditures by federal and provincial
governments in FY2023 estimated at 1.5 percent of GDP. Expenditures on
education-related activities during FY2023 increased by 13.6 percent to
Rs 1,251.1 billion from Rs 1,101.7 billion.
Health and Nutrition
▪ Government is committed towards Universal Health coverage. In this
regard, Global health summit was conducted by Pakistan with the
coordination of Asian Development Bank in February 2024.
▪ An amount of Rs 25.3 billion allocated to health sector in PSDP of
FY2024. During the period July-May FY2024 68% of the allocation has
been released to concerned authorities.
▪ The total public health expenditures during FY2023 amounted to Rs
843.2 billion (1.0 % of GDP) against Rs 919.4 billion last year.
▪ Federal Directorate of Immunization (FDI) vaccinated 2.7 million children
(6 months to 5 years) across 72 districts with an assessed coverage of
95% through close coordination with provinces.
▪ The government has launched a three-year National Multisector
Nutrition Program to Reduce Stunting & Other Forms of Malnutrition,
 with an allocation of Rs. 8.5 billion. The program is scheduled for
implementation across 36 districts burdened with high rates of stunting,
affected by calamities.
▪ Under PAEC, over 1.0 Million procedures carried out annually in AECHs.
About, 40,000 new cancer patients are treated annually. At present,
there are over 2600 personnel employed in these hospitals, comprising
250 doctors, 80 medical physicist, 47 bio medical engineers and 47 radio
pharmacists and scientists.
▪ Precursor Information Management System (PIMS) deployed to track
precursor chemicals used in illegal drugs to monitor the movement and
prevent diversion of these chemicals for illicit purposes.
▪ NDMA responded to spring rains 2024, by providing 9000 tents and
blankets to the masses of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Balochistan along
with plastic mats, kitchen sets and solar lights to protect them from
diseases.
Population Labour Force and Employment
▪ According to the 7th National Population and Housing Census 2023 the
population is 241.5 million with growth rate of 2.55 percent.
▪ In 2023, urban population is 93.75 million while rural population is
147.75 million.
▪ The population of Punjab increased from 109.98 million (census -2017)
to 127.68 million with a growth rate of 2.53 percent.
▪ The population of Sindh increased from 47.85 million (census- 2017) to
55.69 million with a growth rate of 2.57 percent.
▪ The population of Balochistan increased from 12.34 million (census-
2017) to 14.89 million with a growth rate of 3.2 percent.
▪ The population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa increased from 35.50 million
(census- 2017) to 40.85 million with a growth rate of 2.38 percent.
▪ The population of Islamabad reached at 2.36 million from 2.01 million
(census- 2017) with a growth rate of 2.81 percent.
 ▪ According to the Labour Force Survey 2020-21, total labour force is
71.76 million out of which 67.25 million are employed and 4.51 million
are unemployed with unemployment rate of 6.3 percent.
▪ Uptill March 2024, the government disbursed Rs. 83,683 million under
Prime Minister’s Youth Business & Agriculture Loan Scheme.
▪ During 2023, Bureau of Emigration & Overseas Employment (BE&OE)
and Overseas Employment Corporation (OEC) registered 862,625
workers for overseas employment in different countries.
▪ To increase the manpower export from Pakistan, 74 new licenses were
issued to Overseas Employment Promoters (OEPs) during July -
December 2023.
▪ OEC signed MoUs (November2023) with three workforce recruiting
companies (Alfnar, Maharah, Albawani) in KSA to explore the new
markets for workers.
▪ In February 2024, OEC signed 26 Letters of Intent with different
companies/Employers in KSA and an MoU with Nesma & Partners.
Transport and Communication
▪ An amount of Rs. 156.5 billion allocated in PSDP 2023-24 for 123
projects of NHA. Rs 123.0 billion has been released upto May 2024. Its
network comprises of 48 national highways, motorways and strategic
roads with a total length of 14,480 Km.
▪ Pakistan Railways network consists of 446 Locomotives with route
length of 7,791 Km. During July-March FY2024, gross earnings of Rs. 49.5
billion were recorded as compared to Rs. 40.0 billion last year.
▪ The operating revenue of the PIA increased by 27.9% during CY2023 to
Rs. 238.5 billion. Whereas, operating expenditures during this period
increased by 33.3% to Rs. 235.3 billion, recording a loss of Rs. 58.8
billion.
▪ Pakistan National Shipping Corporation has a fleet strength of 12 vessels
having cargo carrying capacity of 938,876 metric tonnes. It witnessed
profit of Rs.14.7 billion as against Rs.24.0 billion in same period last year
due to decrease in dry cargo and liquid cargo segment revenue.
 ▪ The Port Qasim Authority handled 10% more cargo as compared to the
same period of the last FY2023. The total cargo comprising bulk, liquid
bulk and general, handled was 34.3 million tones as compared to 31.1
million tones of last year.
▪ The cargo throughput of exports achieved a growth of over 36% during
July-March FY 2024 wherein volume of exports handled was 7.3 million
tones as compared to 4.7 million tones handled last year.
▪ The cargo and container handling at the Karachi Port during July-March
FY 2024 was 64.2 million tonnes as compared to 31.8 million tonnes
during last year, recording an increase of 50 percent.
▪ The electronic media network consists of 140 Pakistani satellite TV
stations and 35 channels with Landing Rights permission to broadcast in
Pakistan. During July-March FY2024, the PEMRA deposited Rs 2.8 million
to the national exchequer showing 40 percent increase.
▪ Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation has broadcasting network of about 80
units housed in 32 broadcasting houses across the country. During
FY2024, an amount of Rs 5.8 billion were allocated to the PBC for its
operational expenditures, around 89% have been released upto May,
2024
Energy
▪ Total installed capacity of electricity in the country is 42,131 MW, with
contribution from hydel (25.4%), thermal (59.5%), nuclear (8.4%) and
renewables (6.8%).
▪ During July-March FY2024, total electricity generation remains 92,091
GWh from hydel (31.7%), thermal (45.9%), nuclear (18.2%) and
renewable (4.3%).
▪ Total electricity consumption remained 68,559 GWh during July-March
FY2024 with household sector consumes 49.2% of total electricity.
▪ During July-March FY2024, Industrial, agriculture and commercial
sectors consumed 26.29%, 10.07%, and 7.83% of total electricity,
respectively.
 ▪ As of March 2024, net metering based solar installations stood at
117,807 with a cumulative capacity of 1,822 MW.
▪ The six nuclear power plants with gross installed capacity of 3,530 MW
supplied about 16,753 million units of electricity during July-March
FY2024, with monthly share remained between 12.8% to 25.8% of total
electricity generation.
▪ Total demand of petroleum products decreased by about 7.2% during
July-March FY2024 as compared to last year.
▪ Transport sector is the major consumer of petroleum products,
comprising 79.4% of total demand.
▪ Imports of petroleum products were 11,047.0 thousand tonnes during
July-March FY2024 against 11,976.7 thousand tonnes last year.
▪ Total consumption of Natural Gas and RLNG stood at 2,512 MMCFD and
695 MMCFD, respectively, during July-March FY2024.
▪ Total consumption of coal stood at 17.28 million tonnes during July-March
FY2024.
Information Technology and Telecommunication
▪ IT & ITeS realized a trade surplus of US$1,996 million, highest in all
Services (87.4% of total ICT export during July-March FY2024 (15.8%)
against US$1,723 million last year.
▪ ICT export receipts surged by US$ 339 million (17.4%) to US$ 2,283
million during FY2024, against US$ 1,944 million last year.
▪ Pakistan based freelancers contributed foreign exchange earnings to
Pakistan’s economy through remittances of US$ 350.2 million during
July-March FY2024.
▪ Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) launched first-ever women’s
software technology park at the Women’s University of Bagh AJK in
February, 2024.
▪ Till March, 2024 the National Incubation Centers (NICs) have incubated
over 1,480+ startups, with more than 710+ graduating successfully so
far.
 ▪ These startups have generated over 128,000 jobs, received a total
investment of more than Rs 23 billion, with a combined revenue of more
than Rs 16 billion. Over 2,800+ women entrepreneurs have been
empowered through the program.
▪ During July-March FY2024, the telecom sector showed resilience,
expanding its services and generating telecom revenues to the tune of
Rs 735 billion (estimated).
▪ During July-March FY2024, country’s telecom services (Mobile and
Fixed) experienced healthy growth rates, with 194.6 million subscribers
(80.7% teledensity) and 135.4 million broadband subscribers (56.1%
penetration).
▪ Telecom sector also contributed Rs. 213 billion (provisional) to the
national exchequer during July-March FY 2024.
Social Protection
▪ Government of Pakistan allocated Rs466 billion for FY2024 to the BISP to
execute the Social Protection Programmes.
▪ Under Benazir Kafaalat Programme, Rs 257.5 billion have been disbursed
to around 9.4 million beneficiaries during July-March FY2024.
▪ BISP has also disbursed Rs 56.0 billion under Conditional Cash Transfer
Programme.
▪ Under Benazir Taleemi Wazaif Programme, whereas additional 2.2
million children were enrolled and Rs 36.9 billion have been disbursed to
total 14.8 million enrolled children during July-March FY2024.
▪ Benazir Nashonuma Centres are operationalized in 158 districts of the
country through 545 Facilitation Centers to provide health services and
conditional cash transfers to prevent children from stunting growth
issue.
▪ Under Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, Rs 10.8 billion were
disbursed to 1,873,557 beneficiaries during July-March FY2024.
▪ Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) disbursed Rs 2.0 billion during
July-March FY2024 through its Partner Organizations in 149 districts
across the country.
 ▪ Under the Interest Free Loan Programme of PPAF, a total of 274,730
interest free loans (65% loans to women) amounting to Rs 12.2 billion
have been disbursed to borrowers.
▪ An amount of Rs7.7 billion provided to Pakistan Baitul Mal (PBM) in
FY2024, for its core projects/schemes regarding financial assistance to
destitute, widows, orphans, invalid, infirm and other needy persons at
the district level.
▪ During July-March, FY2024, expenditures amounting to Rs 1.4 billion
were incurred on 12,303 scholarship cases, while Rs 660.1 million
disbursed as marriage grants @ Rs 400,000 per worker benefitting 4,107
workers’ families.
▪ The WWF has also disbursed Rs 575.5 million as death grant @Rs 800,000
per worker– covering 1,060 cases of mishaps all over the country.
Climate Change
▪ National Clean Air Policy (NCAP) 2023, aiming to enhance air quality by
reducing pollution nationwide.
▪ M/o CC&EC launched National Adaptation Plan (NAP) 2023 provides an
overview of the country’s climate risks and vulnerabilities.
▪ The Green Pakistan-Upscaling Program, Phase-I, achieved a plantation
target of 2.12 billion. The program is undergoing revision for 2024-2028,
expanding its scope to include carbon finance mechanisms, scientific
resource assessments, livelihood creation, and biodiversity conservation.
▪ The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 28)
convened, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Pakistan actively
engaged as a responsible member of the global community, upholding
the principles outlined in the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC).
▪ Pakistan and China signed an MoU on Cooperation for Green and Low-
Carbon Development in October, 2023.
▪ M/o CC&EC signed MoU with M/o Investment of the UAE in Nov, 2023
for investment cooperation in the wastewater treatment projects.
▪ Kuwait and the Government of Pakistan signed an agreement
in November, 2023 regarding investment cooperation for the
Development of Mangroves Rehabilitation Projects.
▪ Pakistan conducted its first Artificial Rain through Cloud Seeding in
collaboration with UAE’s National Center of Meteorology to combat
pollution in Lahore.