Pakistan’s industrial sector showing promising recovery: SBP

According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Pakistan’s industrial sector is back on track despite the rising COVID-19 cases in the country due to the timely support measures taken by the Government of Pakistan along with SBP.

Initial reports by SBP have shown that since the lockdowns were lifted after the first wave, the industry has started recovering which can be seen by the growth in power generation and the sales of petroleum products over the last fiscal year.

Power generation continued to decline for most of the previous fiscal year. However, in the first quarter (Q1) of the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 (FY21), the power generation showed a positive trend meaning that the industry is back on track.

The petroleum sales also declined in the 2^nd and 3^rd quarter of the previous fiscal year however they showed a huge positive change in the last quarter of FY20 and the first quarter of FY21.

The petroleum product sales might decrease in the current quarter of FY21 as prices have gone up owing to an increase in global oil prices. The price of petrol has been increased to Rs103.69 per litre from Rs100.69 per litre, while the rate of HSD has been rose to Rs108.44 per litre from Rs105.44 per litre in the first half of the current month according to brecorder.

Image Source: SBP