Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Professor Ahsan Iqbal said here on Monday that key economic indicators were showing positive trends despite internal and external challenges, with manufacturing, exports, remittances and foreign investment recording encouraging growth.
Launching the monthly Economic Development Update for September 2026, the minister said Pakistan had moved from the brink of default in 2022 towards macroeconomic stability and was now focusing on shifting from stabilisation to sustainable, export-led growth. He said large-scale manufacturing (LSM) had recorded around three percent growth during July-August, while its overall growth rate had reached five percent compared to contraction in the past, reflecting broad-based activity in the industrial sector.
The automobile, transport equipment, tobacco, wearing apparel, electrical equipment and non-metallic mineral products sectors were among those contributing to industrial growth, he added. Ahsan Iqbal said exports of goods and services had also shown an encouraging trend, rising to around US$ 7.3 billion during the first two months, up 9.2 percent from $6.6 billion in the corresponding period last year.
He said exports of food, petroleum products, leather goods, textiles and surgical goods recorded growth, while the government was working to diversify exports towards engineering and other non-traditional sectors. “Exports are the key to Pakistan’s economic self-determination,” he said, reiterating the target of taking national exports to US$ 100 billion by 2035.—APP
