ISLAMABAD: The government has revised upwards the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate estimate to 3.67 per cent for the current financial year from 3.2 pc announced only 12 days ago.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Economic Council (NAC) which had approved the growth estimate of 3.2 pc on April 26.

The higher growth rate estimate was achieved by reverting to the base year of 1999-2000, instead of 2005-06 adopted last month.

The GDP size and growth rate estimates have often been controversial in Pakistan because of political reasons, but this is for the first time that the NAC meeting was held twice in 12 days to revise its forecast.

The revised growth figure is closer to estimates given by Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in recent weeks.

In his meeting with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other economic partners in Washington, the finance minister had talked about achieving a GDP growth rate of about four per cent.

While he was still to conclude his annual interactions with international lenders, the NAC meeting in Islamabad worked out a GDP rate of growth at 3.2 pc.

This was not acceptable to the ministry of finance which called a meeting of the governing council of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on the finance minister’s return from the United States to call upon the NAC to abandon the new base year of 2005-06 and revert to the old base year of 1999-2000.

Sources said that while projecting the growth rate for the current year at 3.67 pc, the NAC on Tuesday estimated services sector growth rate at 4.02 pc, followed by the industrial sector at 3.4 pc and agriculture at 3.13 pc. This was mainly because of the change in base year to 2005-06.

On April 26, the NAC had estimated services sector growth rate for the current year at 2.12 pc, industrial sector at 3.4 pc and agriculture sector at 3.6 pc.

An official said the major growth impact to 3.13 pc compared with 2.4 pc last year was mainly because of better wheat production that is currently estimated at 25.2 million tons, almost one million tons higher than previous estimates.

This could change subsequently and require readjustment next year in view of the fact that final wheat estimates are confirmed usually by the end of May. He said the final wheat output could touch as high as 27 million tons.