Govt subsidy takes tractor sales to highest since June 2022: report

The sale of tractors in Pakistan almost tripled last month as the nation’s biggest crop producing province started selling the farm equipment on subsidized rates to boost crops, according to Bloomberg.

In December, farmers in the South Asian nation bought 7,030 tractors, which is the highest in the past two-and-a-half years, according to data from the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association. Sales received a boost after Pakistan’s central Punjab province announced a Rs30 billion ($108 million) subsidy for farmers on the purchase of 9,500 tractors.

Millat Tractors Ltd, the assembler of Massey Ferguson tractors in Pakistan, sold 4,686 tractors in December, the highest monthly sales in seven years, according to JS Global Capital Ltd. Millat Tractors’ shares have risen 15 per cent this year in Karachi.

The tractor subsidy is expected to boost farm production in Pakistan, which has seen its economy stabilise after averting a default in 2023. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government expects the economy to grow at 3.6 per cent in the year to June after a 2.5 per cent expansion in the previous financial year.