The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued its projections for Pakistan's economy, foreseeing a 2.5% growth rate in 2024. In its latest World Economic Outlook report, the IMF anticipates a decline in Pakistan's inflation from 29.2% in 2023 to 23.6% in 2024.
The report also indicates a decrease in the unemployment rate from 8.5% to 8% in the coming year, although it predicts an increase in the current account deficit from 0.7% to 1.8% in 2024.
In the global economic context, the IMF presents a rather gloomy outlook while acknowledging a gradual recovery. The IMF maintains a steady GDP growth forecast of 3% for the world economy in 2023 but has slightly adjusted its expectations for 2024, reducing it by 0.1 percentage points to 2.9%.
Regarding advanced economies, the IMF's growth expectations remain consistent at 1.5% for 2023 and 1.4% for 2024. Emerging markets are projected to achieve a 4% GDP growth rate in both 2023 and 2024, a slight adjustment from the earlier forecast of 4.1% for 2024 made in July.
In the Eurozone, there is a modest growth projection of 0.7% for 2023, down by 0.2 percentage points, and 1.2% for 2024, down by 0.3 points. Germany's economic performance is expected to contract by 0.5% this year but rebound with a 0.9% growth rate next year.
The IMF's forecasts for the United States indicate growth of 2.1% in the current year and 1.5% in the following year, representing an increase from the previous report.
China's economy is anticipated to grow by 5% in the current year and 4.2% in 2024. Meanwhile, Russia's growth prospects are less optimistic, with forecasts at 2.2% for this year and 1.1% for 2024.
Additionally, the IMF has revised its predictions for global trade growth volume, lowering it from 2% to 0.9% for the present year and from 3.7% to 3.5% for the following year.
