Economy - overview: | Pakistan, an impoverished and underdeveloped country, has suffered from decades of internal political disputes, low levels of foreign investment, and a costly, ongoing confrontation with neighboring India. However, IMF-approved government policies, bolstered by generous foreign assistance and renewed access to global markets since 2001, have generated solid macroeconomic recovery the last four years. The government has made substantial macroeconomic reforms since 2000, although progress on more politically sensitive reforms has slowed. For example, in the budget for fiscal year 2006, Islamabad did not impose taxes on the agriculture or real estate sectors, despite Pakistan's chronically low tax-to-GDP ratio. While long-term prospects remain uncertain, given Pakistan's low level of development, medium-term prospects for job creation and poverty reduction are the best in more than a decade. Islamabad has raised development spending from about 2% of GDP in the 1990s to 4% in 2003, a necessary step towards reversing the broad underdevelopment of its social sector. GDP growth, spurred by double-digit gains in industrial production over the past year, has become less dependent on agriculture, and remained above 7% in 2004 and 2005. Inflation remains the biggest threat to the economy, jumping to more than 9% in 2005. The World Bank and Asian Development Bank announced that they would provide US $1 billion each in aid to help Pakistan rebuild areas hit by the October 2005 earthquake in Kashmir. Foreign exchange reserves continued to reach new levels in 2005, supported by steady worker remittances. |
GDP - per capita | $2,400 (2005 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate (%) | 8.4% (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; milk, beef, mutton, eggs |
GDP - composition by sector (%) | agriculture: 21.6%, industry: 25.1%, services: 53.3% (2005 est.) |
Industries | textiles and apparel, food processing, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, paper products, fertilizer, shrimp |
Economic aid - recipient | $2.4 billion (FY01/02) |
Debt - external | $39.94 billion (2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line (%) | 32% (FY00/01 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation (%) | agriculture 42%, industry 20%, services 38% (2004 est.) |