ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar said the robust growth (11.14 percent) of Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) continued in December 2020.
“The V shaped economic recovery in Pakistan is led by industries”, he said in a tweet. According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the Large Scale Manufacturing Industries (LSMI) production grew by 11.40 percent during the month of December 2020 as compared to the corresponding month of last year.
LSMI Quantum Index Number (QIM) was recorded at 167.21 points during December 2020 against 150.11 points during December 2019, showing positive growth of 11.4 percent.
During the first half (H1) of the current fiscal year, the overall production increased by 8.16 percent compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year.
The industrial production during July-December (2020-21) was recorded at 143.30 points against the output of 132.49 points during July-December (2019-20).
The highest increase of 6.23 percent was witnessed in the indices monitored by the Ministry of Industries, followed by 1.63 percent increase in indices monitored by the Provincial Board of Statistics and 0.29 percent increase in the products monitored by the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC)
Meanwhile, the industrial growth witnessed increase of 13.51 percent in December 2020 when compared with the indices of November 2020, the PBS data revealed.
The major sectors that showed positive growth during December 2020 included textile (3.54%) food, beverages and tobacco (17.72%), coke and petroleum products (23.91%), pharmaceuticals (13.82 %), chemicals (16.95%), automobiles (43.91%), non-metallic mineral products (17.52%), fertilizers (11.98%), paper and board (8.93%) and rubber products (8.24%).
On the other hand, the LSM industries that witnessed negative growth, electronics (35.59%), leather products (40.55%), engineering products (23.93%) and wood products (30.20%).
It is pertinent to mention here that the provisional QIM is being computed on the basis of the latest production data received from sources including Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC), Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP) and Provincial Bureaus of Statistics.