ADB projects Pakistan's economic growth 'recovering slightly' in FY23.

ISLAMABAD -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has projected that Pakistan's economic growth will "recover slightly" in fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23) on the back of structural reforms.

In a supplement report of the Asian Development Outlook released on Thursday, the ADB stated that Pakistan's GDP growth was expected to be moderate in FY22, which ended in June, on fiscal tightening measures to manage growing demand pressures and contain external and fiscal imbalances.

The ADB stated that it marginally revised inflation figures for FY22 and "substantially" for FY23, citing effects of rising food and energy prices internationally as well as the government's hike in energy tariffs and removal of subsidies in the oil and power sectors in line with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement.

The report noted that headline inflation is at double-digit levels in most of the Caucasus and Central Asia, in Mongolia in East Asia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in South Asia, and Lao People's Democratic Republic and Myanmar in Southeast Asia. In addition, inflation in India was at seven per cent, higher than its central bank's target of 2-6pc, the report added.

It stated, however, that "inflation in the rest of developing Asia's large economies remain manageable. So for the region as a whole, inflation remains moderate on average and much lower than elsewhere in the world."

It revised South Asia's inflation forecast to 7.8pc from 6.5pc in 2022 and 6.6pc from 5.5pc in 2023 on the back of increased prices of fuel, food and other...