LAHORE: Pakistan’s growth slowed in the quarter ending September 2025, as weak consumer demand and monsoon floods weighed on the economy.
Gross domestic product for the July to September period rose 3.71% from a year earlier, according to data posted on the website of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
It compared with 6.2% expansion in the previous quarter and 3.8% forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The figures are preliminary and may be revised later when final data is compiled.
The data that reflected sluggish growth reinforces the central bank’s decision to cut interest rates by 50 basis points early last month, citing the need to support economic activity amid stable price pressures.
The South Asian nation is expected to expand 3% in the year ending June, the World Bank said – below the State Bank of Pakistan’s projection of over 4%.
Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal posted the data on X on Monday.
The key policy rate has been halved to 10.5% to create demand in the economy that narrowly avoided default in 2023.
Industry grew by 9.38% in the September quarter, accelerating from 0.12% in the same quarter a year earlier.
The bureau revised the annual growth to 3.09% for the fiscal year ended June 2025 from the earlier projection of 3.04%.
The government has projected an expansion of 4.2% for the current fiscal started July 2025, a target that looks challenging after heavy monsoon floods submerged vast stretches of farmland and displaced three million people.
About 7.7% of the total cropped land in the country has been impacted, damaging mainly rice and sugarcane. The floods left over 1,000 people dead and as many injured. — Bloomberg
