LSMI output shrinks by 7.97pc in Oct.

ISLAMBAD -- The large-scale manufacturing index (LSMI) declined by 7.97 percent during October of the current fiscal year, reflecting overall economic slowdown across various sectors in the ongoing fiscal year.

The LSMI had shrunk by 6.48 percent in the first four months (July to October) of the current fiscal year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported. The LSM, which constitutes 80 percent of manufacturing and 10.7 percent of the overall GDP, had recorded negative growth for eleventh months in a row amid sluggish economic activities in the country.

The official data showed that growth of big industries like food, beverages, pharmaceutical, chemical, fertilisers, leather and iron, automobiles and steel sectors had declined in first four months of the ongoing fiscal year. Data reveal various factors that led to the slowdown including lower Public Sector Development Programme expenditures compared to last year, deceleration in the private construction activities and...