THE IMF’s new forecast of a subdued economic growth rate of 1.5pc for Pakistan in the current fiscal represents an upgrade from its October estimate of 1pc. Still, it is consistent with the lender’s previous view of the economy in the Covid-19 landscape. The new projection is in line with the World Bank’s revised forecast of 1.3pc given in its Pakistan Development Update published simultaneously with the IMF’s World Economic Review. Nonetheless, it falls shy of the government’s growth target of 2.1pc in addition to being far less optimistic than the State Bank’s latest recovery estimate of 3pc. Last year, the economy had contracted by 0.4pc during the pandemic. Their different figures for growth notwithstanding, SBP and IMF seem to have a similar outlook on other macroeconomic aspects: fiscal balance, inflation and current account deficit. The global lender also expects growth to pick up next year, projecting the economy to expand by 4pc, with inflation slowing down slightly and the current account deficit widening marginally. The medium-term outlook up to 2026 sees relatively steady economic expansion with a stable external sector but higher inflation.