October 14, 2020 (MLN): The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday in its World Economic Outlook report “A long and difficult Ascent,” has projected Pakistan GDP growth rate at 1 percent for FY21 against -0.4 percent in FY20.
The Fund also expects inflation rate in Pakistan to be around 8.8 percent in FY21 against 10.7 percent in FY20. The current account balance is projected at negative 2.5 percent as opposed to negative 1.1 percent in FY20.
The unemployment rate is expected to accelerate to 5.1 percent in FY21 compared to 4.5 percent in FY20, said the fund.
The IMF further highlighted that remittance flows contracted sharply during the early lockdown period but have shown signs of recovery.
Nonetheless, the risk of a decline in payments and transfers from migrant workers back to their home countries is very significant, particularly for such countries as Bangladesh, Egypt, Guatemala, Pakistan, the Philippines, and those in sub-Saharan Africa more broadly, it added.
