Economic expansion to further slowdown: forecast EIU.

KARACHI -- Pace of expansion of economy of Pakistan would go slower in the coming years, forecast a leading economic forum. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has projected Pakistan's economy to expand by an annual average of 2.9% in 2018/19?2022/23, compared with 5.4% previously. The advisory issued by the EIU comes amidst Pakistan's ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which commenced on November 7th and are expected to conclude by November 20th. EIU stated political considerations, especially of the US may complicate the negotiations, but it expected Pakistan to clinch a $7 billion IMF bailout package by early-2019. It added the government would likely carry out structural reforms at the IMF's demand; however, their extent will be limited. Consequently, due to an anticipated reduction on public spending, some projects under the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would progress more slowly and isn't likely to impact bilateral ties with China, said EIU.

On the external sector woes, EIU said it anticipated an imminent IMF...