Publication: Pakistan Economic Update, June 2011
Loading...
Published
2011-06
ISSN
Date
2017-06-27
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
For the last three years, Pakistan has been making efforts to revive strong and sustained growth. The economy was badly destabilized by the turmoil in the international commodity and financial markets in 2007-2008 and the lack of adequate domestic policy responses to manage those external shocks. The task of stabilizing the economy and reviving the economic recovery has been made difficult by an adverse security situation and domestic politics that has prevented the government from taking timely required, but difficult, stabilization measures. The devastating floods in July-August last year and the recent increase in international oil and food prices have exacerbated the problem. In addition, Pakistan continues to face significant political challenges in achieving durable development. The domestic security situation as a result of campaign against terrorism is a direct and indirect tax on the costs of economic activity and the achievement of the kinds of social stability required to promote a supportive environment for businesses.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2011. Pakistan Economic Update, June 2011. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27404 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Taking Stock, July 2013(Hanoi, 2013-07-10)The global economy appears to be transitioning toward a period of more stable albeit moderate pace of growth. Global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which slowed in mid-2012, is recovering and a modest acceleration in quarterly GDP is expected during the course of 2013. In the developing world growth remains solid, but there are some signs of easing. More than four years after the financial crisis started, global industrial output is only 5.3 percent higher than its pre-crisis peak. While the global financial market conditions continue to improve, eventual phasing out of quantitative easing in advanced economies is beginning to worry investors. The improvement in financial conditions can be seen in lower yields on long-term debt, higher stock market returns and near-record flow of gross capital to developing countries. Vietnam's economy is experiencing its longest spell of slow growth since the onset of economic reforms in the late-1980s. Real GDP grew by 5 percent in 2012, the lowest level since 1998. The economy extended its slow growth into the first half of 2013, registering a growth rate of 4.9 percent in the first quarter and 5 percent in the second quarter. This is the first time that Vietnam has experienced two consecutive years of sub-5 percent growth in the first half of the year since it started publishing quarterly GDP. In fact what had distinguished Vietnam from other countries is its ability to recover rapidly after an economic shock-be it during the East Asian crisis in 1999 or the global financial crisis in 2009. However, Vietnam has found it harder to take timely and decisive actions to jumpstart its economy from the current growth slowdown. Vietnam is the only large developing country in the East Asia and Pacific region other than China whose post-crisis growth rate has been lower than its pre-crisis level.Publication Kenya Economic Report, June 2013, No. 8 : Time to Shift Gears--Accelerating Growth and Poverty Reduction in the New Kenya(Washington, DC, 2013-06)The report has three main messages. First, the economy is expected to achieve higher growth targets in 2013 (5.7 percent) and 2014 (6 percent) over what it achieved in 2012 (4.6 percent), as a result of the smooth election process. However, the government will need to make a concerted effort, if it wishes to approach the 10 percent annual growth rate foreseen in Vision 2030. The report's second message emphasizes on the steps that the government needs to take to create an enabling framework for significant private sector-led growth. The Government needs to continue to invest in infrastructure, to increase domestic energy production, to address the other bottlenecks that affect the cost of doing business, and to continue following sound monetary and fiscal policies. Finally, the report's third message focuses on the poverty situation in Kenya, noting progress made since 2005, when an estimated 47 percent of the population lived below the poverty line, to the present, where poverty estimates range between 34 and 42 percent, the imprecision resulting from the lack of any recent survey data. The report notes the spatial dimension of poverty, and the poor tend to live in the arid and semi-arid regions in the north and north east. It concludes with thoughts about a poverty reduction strategy, which would emphasize on job creation, enhanced productivity of smallholder farms, strengthening and expanding cash transfer programs, targeted public spending programs to provide quality education to the rural poor, and improved poverty monitoring, so that the government can rapidly see which activities have the greatest impacts on improving the lives of the poor.Publication Kenya Economic Update, December 2013, No. 9 : Reinvigorating Growth with a Dynamic Banking Sector(Washington, DC, 2013-12)Kenyans are living two decades longer; the fertility and infant mortality rates have been cut in half; and school enrollment, at both the primary and secondary level, has more than doubled. On the economic front, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita increased eightfold; the largest share of GDP is the services sector, not agriculture; and the financial sector is now the third largest in Sub-Saharan Africa (after South Africa and Nigeria). Kenya strengthened its external position substantially in recent years, accumulating international reserves to meet program targets under the successfully completed international monetary fund (IMF) program. Reforms have improved the resilience of the banking sector to domestic and international shocks. With the advent of mobile information and communications technology (ICT) developments, the ceiling for innovation targeting specific segments of the market and outreach has been raised almost indefinitely. Kenyan banks are ahead of their counterparts in Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of the share of lending to small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in their portfolios. A mature banking sector and more generally, a well-developed financial sector that supports a vibrant private sector will be an important advantage to achieving the vision 2030 goals.Publication Indonesia Economic Quarterly, March 2011(Washington, DC, 2011-03)The Indonesia economic quarterly reports on and synthesizes the past three months' key developments in Indonesia's economy. It places them in a longer-term and global context, and assesses the implications of these developments and other changes in policy for the outlook for Indonesia's economic and social welfare. Its coverage ranges from the macro economy to financial markets to indicators of human welfare and development. It is intended for a wide audience, including policy makers, business leaders, financial market participants, and the community of analysts and professionals engaged in Indonesia's evolving economy. Economic developments over the past quarter bear some strong similarities with the situation seen in the first half of 2008. Most notably, rises in domestic and international commodity prices have again brought with them a variety of risks, both positive and negative, at the macroeconomic and household level. While oil prices increased sharply with political developments in the Middle East and North Africa, strong price rises have been seen across global commodities. Non-energy commodities, including food, were up 30 percent in the six months to February 2011, similar to the increases seen in the first half of 2008. The experiences of other countries through the 2008 food price crisis suggest a range of potential policies which can provide well-targeted protection for vulnerable households and maintain and create incentives for producers to help limit future price volatility.Publication Philippines Quarterly Update, December 2011(World Bank, Pasig City, Philippines, 2011-12)After a strong rebound in 2010, Philippine economic growth slowed by more than half to 3.6 percent in the first three quarters of 2011. Slower third quarter (Q3) growth of 3.2 percent was the result of significant contractions in exports and public investment. The contraction in exports largely reflected weaker demand in advanced economies while public investments continued to shrink in part because of measures to improve accountability of public spending. On the production side, industrial and agricultural activities were sluggish, leaving the services sector to buoy growth. To improve growth outcome in the remainder of the year, the government announced a PHP 72 billion (about 0.7 percent of GDP) disbursement acceleration plan to ensure that budgeted items are spent by year end. After a strong rebound in 2010, Philippine economic growth slowed by more than half to 3.6 percent in the first three quarters of 2011, bringing year to date growth below the government's revised target of 4.5 to 5.5 percent for 2011. Q3 growth of 3.2 percent was driven by private consumption and inventory build-up, which grew by 7.1 and 147.7 percent respectively. The country's slower expansion places it behind its neighbors with Indonesia, Vietnam, and Singapore growing above 6 percent, Malaysia at 5.8 percent, and Thailand, which was devastated by massive flooding in recent months, at 3.5 percent.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication Digital-in-Health(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-08-18)Technology and data are integral to daily life. As health systems face increasing demands to deliver new, more, better, and seamless services affordable to all people, data and technology are essential. With the potential and perils of innovations like artificial intelligence the future of health care is expected to be technology-embedded and data-linked. This shift involves expanding the focus from digitization of health data to integrating digital and health as one: Digital-in-Health. The World Bank’s report, Digital-in-Health: Unlocking the Value for Everyone, calls for a new digital-in-health approach where digital technology and data are infused into every aspect of health systems management and health service delivery for better health outcomes. The report proposes ten recommendations across three priority areas for governments to invest in: prioritize, connect and scale.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication World Bank Annual Report 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-25)This annual report, which covers the period from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, has been prepared by the Executive Directors of both the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA)—collectively known as the World Bank—in accordance with the respective bylaws of the two institutions. Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, has submitted this report, together with the accompanying administrative budgets and audited financial statements, to the Board of Governors.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.