Pakistan's large scale industry expands 3.5% in four months

Islamabad: Large Scale Manufacturing Industries (LSMI) production grew by 3.56 percent during the first four months of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported Thursday.

The LSMI Quantum Index Number (QIM) was recorded at 140.50 points during July-October (2021-22) against 135.66 points during July-October (2020-21), showing growth of 3.56 percent, according to latest PBS data.

The highest increase of 2.26 percent during July-October (2021-22) was witnessed in the indices monitored by the Ministry of Industries, followed by 0.88 percent increase in indices monitored by the Provincial Board of Statistics (BOS) and 0.43 percent increase in the products monitored by the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC).

On year-on-year basis (YoY), the industry declined by 1.19 percent during the month of October 2021 compared to the growth of October 2020, according to PBS latest data.

The major sectors that showed positive growth during July-October (2021-22) included textile (0.91%), food, beverages and tobacco (5.15%), coke and petroleum products (7.33%), pharmaceuticals (6.55%), chemicals (3.14%), automobiles (37.91%), iron and steel products (11.62%), leather products (10.49%), paper and board (9.39%), engineering products (0.81%) and wood products (6.56%).

The commodities that witnessed negative growth included non-metallic mineral products (2.66%), fertilizers (7.23%), electronics (10.92%) and rubber products (32.23%).

It is pertinent to mention here that the provisional QIM is being computed on the basis of the latest production data received from sources, including Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC), Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP) and Provincial Bureaus of Statistics (PBoS).

SOURCE: APP