Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Large Scale Manufacturing Industries (LSMI) production grew by 3.66 percent during first two months (Jul-Aug) of current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported Friday. LSMI Quantum Index Number (QIM) was recorded at 130.91 points during July-Aug 2020-21 against 126.28 points during same period of the preceding year.
The highest increase of 1.96 percent was witnessed in the indices monitored by the Ministry of Industries, followed by 1.37 percent increase in indices monitored by the Provincial Board of Statistics and 0.34 percent increase in the products monitored by the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC). Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the industrial growth witnessed increase of 1.19 percent in August 2020 when compared with the indices of August 2019, the PBS data revealed.
Meanwhile, the major sectors that showed growth during July-August 2020 included textile (1.79%), food, beverages and tobacco (15.50%), coke and petroleum products (5.71%), Pharmaceuticals (10.03 %), chemicals (9.70%) , non metallic mineral products (23.05%), paper and board (9.83%), and rubber products (4.69).
On the other hand, the LSM industries that witnessed negative growth, included automobile (18.81%), iron and steel products (10.39%), fertilizers (0.80%), electronics (24.63%), leather products (37.50%), engineering products (38.66%), and wood products (70.45%). It is pertinent to mention here that 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).
