CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURING RECOVERY
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has said Pakistan’s economy is recovering, even as a second wave of the Coronavirus has affected businesses.
ADB said that economic activity in South Asia has started to normalize from the third quarter. And Pakistan’s economy is recovering, particularly in manufacturing and construction.
Despite the persistent spread of COVID-19, most economies in Asia have continued to relax containment measures, having deemed strict lock downs to be economically unsustainable.
“Pakistan’s economy is recovering, particularly in manufacturing and construction, supported by government emergency relief,” the ADB said in its Outlook 2020 Supplement, Paths Diverge in Recovery from the Pandemic.
The brief report “Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2020 Supplement: Paths Diverge in Recovery from the Pandemic” released on Thursday (10.DEC.2020) said developing Asia was now forecast to contract by 0.4% in 2020. Less than the 0.7% decrease was expected in the Asian Development Outlook 2020 Update in September. It predicted the developing Asian growth to recover to 6.8% in 2021, but chances diverge within the region.
The earlier South Asia forecast for 6.8% contraction is upgraded to 6.1% in line with an improved projection for India. Recovery in Southeast Asia continues to lag as COVID-19 virus containment efforts in the larger economies hamper economic activity. Sub-regional forecasts are downgraded for 2020 from 3.8% contraction to 4.4%, and for 2021 from 5.5% growth to 5.2%.
To counter the dwindling economy, the government announced a Rs 100 billion relief package for the construction industry in April 2020. In many countries, the construction sector is considered the backbone of their economies. And this is also true for Pakistan. The construction package includes tax incentives, waivers and subsidies for builders, developers and property owners.
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