Overview
- Official data from the NAC/PBS show 3.71% GVA growth in Q1 FY2025–26, with agriculture at 2.89%, industry at 9.38%, and services at 2.35%, a result welcomed by the prime minister and finance minister.
- EPBD argues the industrial surge rests on utilities value added inflated by policy support, citing electricity, gas and water growth above 25% linked to subsidies jumping from Rs20 billion to Rs118 billion and deflator effects.
- The think tank highlights a trade-output disconnect, noting food exports fell 25.8% while food imports rose 18.8% despite reported gains in agriculture and food manufacturing.
- EPBD points to import-driven activity across sectors, with construction reported up 21% alongside more than doubled transport imports and an 1,180% spike in bus and truck imports, as well as mobile phone imports rising 383.5%.
- Textile exports rose even as cotton output and ginning declined, which EPBD attributes to finished goods made with imported synthetic fibres, and it urges market-oriented policies with private-led investment; the group’s board includes figures tied to the consortium that bought a 75% stake in PIA.