Federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar, has said that Pakistan is now reaping economic dividends after controlling the coronavirus pandemic in its early going.

Umar in a tweet post on Tuesday said: “Dividend of controlling COVID early paying off on the economic side also, as V-shaped recovery gets confirmed.” He said that Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) figures for July show more than 9 percent growth over June and more than 5pc growth as compared to July 2019.

Pakistan's economy is finally gathering steam with sales of fuel and cement rising, as the number of coronavirus cases dwindles down. The development comes on the back of growing sales and demand for cement, fuel, electronics, and automobiles.

“The growth is led by an aggregate demand push,” said Muzzammil Aslam, chief executive officer at Tangent Capital Advisors Pvt, quoted Bloomberg. The economist expects Pakistan's economy to expand by 4 percent to 5pc this year doubling even the government’s target.

Similar optimism was expressed by the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, who in his recent address said the economy was now moving forward on the right path after gaining stability due to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government's prudent and timely policies.

The government was confident to surpass the growth target set for the current fiscal year as the country was moving fast towards the right path on internal and external fronts, he added.