LSM grows 1.86 percent in October

ISLAMABAD: Large-scale manufacturing sector grew marginally 1.86 percent during the month of October compared to September, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data showed on Thursday.

“The LSMI output decreased by 1.19 percent in October 2021, compared to October 2020 and increased by 1.86 percent if compared to September 2021,” the bureau said.

LSM accounts for 80 percent of manufacturing sector and the year-on-year fall in LMS witnessed after 16 months.

“The overall output of LSM increased by 3.56 percent for July-October 2021-22 compared to July-October 2020-21,” the bureau said.

In first quarter (July-September) of 2021/22, the average growth of LSM clocked in at 5.15 percent over same period last year. In Pakistan’s manufacturing sector, LSM accounts for 80 percent of manufacturing sector.

Analysts said low base effect has so far been driving the growth in large scale manufacturing sector as the index had dropped to the low level last year because of Covid-19 related lockdown in the country.

The October numbers are in contrast to government expectations for a strong set of data from large-scale manufacturing sector to support overall growth target this fiscal,” an analyst said.

The LSMI Quantum Index Number (QIM) was recorded at 140.50 points during July-October (2021-22) against 135.66 points during July-October (2020-21), showing growth of 3.56 percent, according to latest PBS data.

The highest increase of 2.26 percent during July-October (2021-22) was witnessed in the indices monitored by the Ministry of Industries, followed by 0.88 percent increase in indices monitored by the Provincial Board of Statistics (BOS) and 0.43 percent increase in the products monitored by the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC).

The major sectors that showed positive growth during July-October (2021-22) included textile (0.91 percent), food, beverages and tobacco (5.15 percent), coke and petroleum products (7.33 percent), pharmaceuticals (6.55 percent), chemicals (3.14 percent), automobiles (37.91 percent), iron and steel products (11.62 percent), leather products (10.49 percent), paper and board (9.39 percent), engineering products (0.81 percent) and wood products (6.56 percent).

The commodities that witnessed negative growth included non-metallic mineral products (2.66 percent), fertilisers (7.23 percent), electronics (10.92 percent), and rubber products (32.23 percent). 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 (PBoS).