ISLAMABAD: The Large Scale Manufacturing Industries (LSMI) production grew by 9.13 percent on year-on-year basis during the month of January 2021 as compared to the corresponding month of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported Tuesday.

The LSMI Quantum Index Number (QIM) was recorded at 175.15 points during January 2021 against 160.49 points during January 2020, showing growth of 9.13 percent, according to the latest PBS data.

During the first seven months of the current fiscal year, the overall production increased by 7.85 percent as compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year. The industrial production during July-January (2020-21) was recorded at 147.22 points against the output of 136.49 points during July-January (2019-20).

The highest increase of 6.48 percent was witnessed in the indices monitored by the Ministry of Industries, followed by 1.11 percent increase in indices monitored by the Provincial Board of Statistics and 0.26 percent increase in the products monitored by the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC)

Meanwhile, on month-on-month basis, the industrial growth witnessed an increase of 5.36 percent in January 2021 as compared with the indices of December 2020, the PBS data revealed.

Meanwhile, the major sectors that showed positive growth during July-January (2020-21) included textile (2.65%); food, beverages and tobacco (19.13%), coke and petroleum products (4.63%), pharmaceuticals (12.33%), chemicals (9.19%), non-metallic mineral products (22.31%), automobiles (13.02 %) and fertilizers (6.74%).

On the other hand, the LSM industries that witnessed decline during the period under review included, iron and steel productions (1.06%); electronics (25.11%), leather products (41.65%), paper and board (0.62 %); engineering products (30.52%); rubber products (5.02 %) and wood products (56.11%).

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).

Meanwhile, in a tweet, Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Hammad Azhar while commenting on the 9.1% industrial growth in January said that the sustained and robust growth in industry was expected to lift economic growth beyond earlier forecasts.