Himalayan News Service

Islamabad, May 18:

Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to cross the $100 billion mark by the end of fiscal 2004-05, with growth likely to be placed at 8.3 per cent.

Inflation, however, was at nine per cent during the first three quarters of the fiscal year, which ends on June 30. The sources said National Accounts Committee (NAC) had provisionally estimated an 8.3 per cent GDP growth rate for the fiscal, against 6.4 per cent during 2003-04.

This “phenomenal growth rate”, The News reported, is strongly supported by bumper cotton and wheat harvests, which propelled the agriculture sector’s growth to 7.6 per cent during the year. Large-scale manufacturing, the other major driver of growth, rose by almost 15 per cent during first seven months of the year.

International trade is expected to touch $33 billion, in turn increasing the share of the services sector. The last time Pakistan achieved such a high was in 1984-85, when 8.7 per cent growth was recorded. This, however, has created a dilemma for the Planning Commission in projecting the growth forecast for fiscal 2005-06.