Faisalabad: Federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said on Thursday that "record economic growth" has put the country on the path of progress and prosperity despite COVID-19 and global inflation.
Addressing a press conference, the minister revealed that the National Accounts Committee (NAC) took two major decisions during its meeting and fixed the financial base from 2005-06 to 2015-16.
“This proposal was brought about three years back and today we discussed the GDP growth for the financial year 2020-21 candidly,” he said.
Omar said that during the first three quarters of 2020-21, GDP growth stood at 3.94%, which increased to 5.37% during the previous quarter.
"This is the second fastest growth recorded in the country during the last 14 years," he said, adding that COVID-19 has affected global economies, but in Pakistan, the national economy showed tremendous progress due to "prudent policies". Is. "Adopted by the Govt.
Citing the findings of three surveys conducted by renowned UK magazine, The Economist, he said that Pakistan ranked third in the first survey, then jumped to the first position in the second survey and now secured the second position in the third survey.
"This indicates the excellent performance of the national economy as Pakistan is one of the top three economies in the world, which showed unprecedented progress during the pandemic," he said.
auto sector
Throwing light on the auto sector, he said that the industry has registered record sales of vehicles during the first nine months of the last financial year.
The sector grew by 9.29 per cent in the nine-month period, while the growth rate jumped to 15.27% in the previous quarter. "The auto sector has contributed 1.12% to the overall GDP growth rate," the minister said.
Bumper crop
Omar highlighted the bumper crop during this period. He disclosed that the country produced 27.5 million tonnes of wheat against the set target of 27.3 million tonnes. Similarly, potato production stood at 5.9 million tonnes against the target of 45 lakh tonnes.
Natural gas, crude oil, coal
Omar said natural gas production also increased from 1.255 trillion cubic feet to 1.279 trillion cubic feet during the period under review. Similarly, crude oil production exceeded the target as it stood at 27.6 million barrels instead of 26.2 million barrels. Coal production also increased from 8.5 million tonnes to 8.95 million tonnes.
Per capita income
He said that the per capita income in Pakistan was about $1,457 which has now increased to $1,666, which shows that the purchasing power of the people has also increased significantly.