ISLAMABAD: The large-scale manufacturing (LSM) index ente­r­ed negative growth of 3.33 per cent year-on-year in August, data shared by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics revealed on Thursday.

The decline in big industrial production in August has caused fears that economic growth in the country may slow down. July posted a meagre increase of 0.5pc YoY.

In 2017-18, the LSM posted a growth of 5.4pc YoY by missing the target of 6.3pc. Between July-August, the growth dropped 1.17pc YoY.

The negative growth is mainly the outcome of dip in production of petroleum products 13.96pc, followed by non-metallic mineral products 13.91pc, automobiles 12.82pc, fertilisers 9.98pc, pharmaceuticals 6.86pc, iron and steel products 5.1pc, chemicals 0.42pc, textile 0.1pc and wood products plunged 57.98 pc, respectively, during the month in review.

The sector constitutes 80pc of manufacturing and 10.7pc of the overall GDP. In comparison, small-scale manufacturing accounts for just 1.8pc of GDP and 13.7pc of manufacturing.

Production data of 36 items received from the Ministry of Industries and Production showed a negative growth of 3.27pc in August.

On the other hand, 65 items reported by the provincial bureaus of statistics posted slight growth of 0.96pc. Figures of 11 items received from the Oil Companies Advisory Committee contributed negatively 1.02pc to LSM decline during August.

Industry-specific data showed that engineering products recorded the highest increase of 10.30pc, followed by food, beverages and tobacco products 9.83pc, paper and board 7.72pc, electronic products 5.48pc, leather products 2.19pc, and rubber products 1.23pc.

In the automobile sector, the production of all vehicles entered negative growth in August, compared to the same period a year ago. Tractors went down 16.41pc, jeeps and cars 4.85pc, motorcycles 19.46pc, light commercial vehicles 8.42pc, trucks 40.89pc and buses shrank by 18.18pc during the year under review.

Decline in the chemical sector was mainly driven by paints and varnishes, which recorded a drop of 3.19pc, whereas caustic soda went up by 15.59pc.

In pharmaceuticals, syrups, tablets capsules and injections went down by 4.42pc, 7.34pc, 11.5pc and 9.47pc, respectively. In non-metallic mineral products, cement posted a negative growth of 14.10pc.

Food, beverages and tobacco segment posted a decline across the board in the second month of the current fiscal year.

A 6.11pc decline was recorded in cooking oil production, followed by blended tea 2.91pc, wheat and grinding mill 2.08pc. A meagre growth of 0.39pc was recorded in vegetable ghee.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2018