The IMF expects inflation to rise to 19.9 percent in 2023, up from 12.1 percent in 2022.
Still, the research predicts that by the end of the year 2023, consumer price inflation would have slowed to 15% from a peak of 21.30% in 2022.
The IMF expects Pakistan’s GDP growth rate to slow to 3.5% in 2023 from 6.0% in 2022, however, this estimate does not account for the damage caused by recent floods.
Unemployment in Pakistan is expected to rise from its current rate of 6.2 percent in 2022 to 6.4% in 2023, according to the Fund’s projections.
The impact of the recent floods was not factored into the 2022 predictions for Pakistan, as indicated in the IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO) report “World Economic Outlook Countering the Cost-of-Living Crisis.”
The expected current account balance for 2023 is -2.5 percent, down from the negative -4.6 percent seen in 2022.