Will Pakistan's growth continue

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ISLAMABAD 003694 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/PB, EB/TPP, EB/IFD/OIA, AND EB/IFD/OMA USAID FOR ANE MWARD TREASURY FOR OSSA COMMERCE FOR ANESA/OSA MANILA PASS USED AT ADB STATE PASS USTR FOR RGERBER, DHARTWICK SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN ECON EINV PREL PK SUBJECT: Will Pakistan's growth continue REF: Islamabad 3654 INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY ¶1. (SBU) Pakistan is in its fifth year of seven percent economic growth, but a number of international and private sector observers in Islamabad and Karachi question whether this growth is sustainable without additional reforms and a clear path through the election season. This cable is based on a series of meetings with GOP Economic Adviser, Ashfaque Hasan Khan; IMF Resident Representative, Henri Lorie; Asian Development Bank Country Director, Peter Fedon; Citibank representatives; Standard Chartered Bank Chief Executive Badar Kazmi; and the World Bank team to discuss economic developments in Pakistan following the July release of the FY07 economic growth and trade statistics. ¶2. (SBU) The domestic consumption boom led economic growth over the past year, resulting in a large import bill and growing trade deficit. Many of our interlocutors questioned whether this growth pattern is sustainable over the long-term. While Pakistan's economic performance is widely commended, particularly the record levels of foreign investment and remittances, the ADB and the IMF both question whether Pakistan can achieve the ambitious 10-11 percent growth GOP Medium Term Plan target. We share their observations, particularly given Pakistan's current relatively low investment levels. All observers cited infrastructure problems, low skill levels, export concentration in few commodities, lack of opportunity for small and medium enterprises and energy shortages as major obstacles to increased (and even continued) growth. Everybody is watching to the current political and security situation as well as the choppiness in the international financial markets to see the effects on incoming investment, domestic investment decisions, and economic growth. End introduction and summary. CONSUMPTION-LED GROWTH ATTRACTIVE TO FOREIGN INVESTORS ¶3. (SBU) Private consumption expenditures grew 13.8 percent in nominal terms in FY07 over FY06. Consumer expenditures alone made up close to 75 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, while investment expenditures accounted for only 21 percent of the GDP in FY07. Purchases of durable consumer goods (particularly electronics and automobiles) have grown considerably over the past few years, with the growth of the purchasing power of the middle class. Pakistan's consumption-led growth story is unique in Asia, and has attracted significant interest from overseas investors. $8.4 billion in foreign investment flowed in FY07, compared to $4.48 billion in FY06. ¶4. (SBU) Private sector inflows and foreign purchases of global depository receipts from the privatization of the Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (worth $730 million) and United Bank Ltd (worth $650 million) accounted for the majority of inflows. The IMF Rep told us that non-privatization related FDI exceeded $4.8 billion. Remittances were also at a record high $5.4 billion. The U.S has been the biggest source of remittances; Pakistanis living in U.S sent $1.45 billion in remittances, up 17.4 percent from the previous year. Saudi Arabia with $1.02 billion and UAE with $866 million are other major sources. The capital flight problem that plagued Pakistan in the 1990s does not exist in any significant way now. In addition, services -- especially banking and telecom sectors -- performed exceptionally well while construction activity also spiked. ¶5. (SBU) Not surprisingly, Pakistan's balance of payment surplus nearly tripled, from $1.3 billion in FY06 to $3.5 billion in FY07. Large foreign flows have generated rupee liquidity in the system; the State Bank Pakistan has tightened credit, increased bank ratios, and performed more frequent open market operations to keep inflation under 8 percent. According to State Bank of Pakistan, Net Foreign Assets (NFA) of the banking sector rose by 30 percent, which resulted in money supply growth of 16.7 percent. EXPORTS SLOWDOWN PUZZLING ISLAMABAD 00003694 002 OF 004 ¶6. (SBU) Exports grew only 3.4 percent in FY07 (compared to 13.8 percent in FY06) to $17 billion while imports increased by 6.8 percent to $30.5 billion. Pakistan posted a record trade deficit of $13.5 billion due to slow down in exports. Dr. Ashfaque Hasan Khan, the Economic Adviser to GOP, explained that the slowdown in exports has been sudden and abrupt. He attributed the slow growth in exports to the government's decision to end the export refunds and rebates programs. He suspected that many refunds were falsified, and the exporters counted them as export proceeds. Elimination of rebates has led to a smaller but in his view, more realistic export number. Mr. Khan, however, said that some part of slower growth in exports can be attributed to market access problems in European Union pointing to preferential treatment granted to Bangladesh and India, two of Pakistan's primary textile export competitors. State Bank of Pakistan Governor Shamshad Akhtar commented that the GOP cannot subsidize its textile industry to the same extent as India and China, and that Pakistan is losing market share as a result. The IMF Resident Representative said that slowdown in exports can also be attributed to domestic consumption boom that has left lesser exportable surplus. RESERVES GROW, DESPITE LARGE CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT - THANKS TO FOREIGN INFLOWS ¶7. (SBU) As a result of consumption-led growth, Pakistan's current account deficit increased 41 percent in FY07 and now stands at $7.0 billion or 4.8 percent of GDP. Thanks to the strong foreign inflows, however, reserves grew $2.5 billion in FY07, from $10.7 billion to $13.3 billion. The growth in reserves protected the rupee from depreciation -- it lost only one percent in nominal terms against the U.S dollar in FY07. (Comment: We are watching carefully to see to what extent the GOP can continue to finance its current account deficit through foreign inflows. The majority of the financial experts we met are concerned that the government cannot continue to depend in the long term on foreign inflows to finance its current account deficit. Several pointed out that "Pakistan is not the United States -- it is not an engine of world economic growth and the rupee is not a world currency." End comment.) HIGH INFLATION STILL A RISK ¶8. (SBU) Core (non-food/non-oil) inflation slowed to 5.5 percent in FY07, down from 7.1 percent last year. Overall inflation, however, remained at 7.8 percent, driven by food inflation (up 10.3 percent year-over-year). Food prices increased because of higher international lentil and cooking oil prices, and the high international price of wheat and corn also affected domestic prices for these two commodities, driving up Pakistan's overall inflation rate. Citibank commented that the growing use of grains to make bio fuels, such as ethanol, contributes to tight international supplies, affecting Pakistan because it must import cooking oil to meet the domestic demand. ¶9. (SBU) Pakistan has failed to capitalize on the global agriculture price run-up despite bumper crops of wheat and maize. While Pakistan's wheat production increased 10.5 percent year over year, the GOP recently imposed a wheat export ban to curb rising domestic prices. According to Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari at the Karachi-based Brokerage House, this decision will divert $450-500 million in exports to the local market. Despite its service-based economy, 70 percent of Pakistanis still live in rural areas, and agriculture employs 43 percent of the labor force. ¶10. (SBU) According to Bukhari, the summer floods will not contribute to further food inflation since the Punjabi breadbasket, which feeds approximately 75 percent of Pakistan, has been spared floods and heavy rainfalls. However, disruption due to heavy rains has disrupted food supply to Sindh and Baluchistan, temporarily increasing food inflation in these areas. SERVICES SECTOR DWARFS MANUFACTURING ¶11. (SBU) Pakistan's services sector has overtaken both ISLAMABAD 00003694 003 OF 004 agriculture and manufacturing with more than a 53 percent GDP share, while manufacturing sector only has a 19 percent share. Foreign direct investment inflows have mostly been confined to the services sector, with only 0.5 percent going to the manufacturing sector. Citibank Country Manager Aziz Rahman commented that Pakistan appears to have skipped over the manufacturing step in the economic development progression. ¶12. (SBU) The manufacturing sector grew 8.8 percent, falling short of its target of 12.5 percent due to overall lack of competitiveness. The textile sector, which accounts for 25 percent of the large scale manufacturing sector and 60 percent of export earnings, is dominated by family groups. There is general lack of corporate culture in the manufacturing sector, which has restricted dynamism and reduced competitiveness. In addition, Pakistan's low skill levels were pointed out by nearly everyone we spoke with as an impediment to further growth. SECOND GENERATION REFORMS ESSENTIAL FOR CONTINUED GROWTH ¶13. (SBU) Sustained 7 percent growth much less the 10-11 percent growth the GOP seeks to make real inroads on poverty reduction, however, depends on implementation of second generation reforms and growth in the energy supply. The ADB believes that the GOP target is not possible with the current investment levels, currently 23 percent of GDP (as compared to 40 percent in China and around 30 percent in India),and that GOP predictions that the private sector will make 80 percent of this investment are ambitious. The ADB told us that given the composition of Pakistan's private sector and its traditional reluctance to invest here, it is not likely invest at this level. In addition, macroeconomic imbalances such as large current account deficit and Pakistan's lack of industrial diversification also make higher growth rates more difficult. The International Monetary Fund ResRep shared ADB's view. Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan's Executive Director, Badar Kazmi, however, related his experience that Pakistanis are more likely to invest at home today than at any time in the past; post-9/11, they are seeing a good return on their investment. His bank is also putting significant resources into developing its small and medium enterprise sector. WATCHING TO HOW THE CURRENT SITUATION AFFECTS INVESTMENT ¶14. (SBU) The GOP economists, IFI reps and banking sector are all monitoring the current political and security situation carefully as Pakistan heads into its election season to see how investment and growth are affected. The World Bank sources said that it is very hard to get the real sense of economic fallout of the recent law and order problems and suicide attacks in Pakistan. They are watching to see whether this is a passing phase. The Citibank sources said that the risk premium on Pakistani bonds rose in the international capital markets due to recent suicide attacks in Pakistan. However, global investors will be looking at Pakistan as an investment opportunity due to good spreads. No matter what happens, it will always be less expensive to invest here rather than India or other Asian countries. Standard Chartered Bank's Kazmi remarked that "the picture over the next three to six months is blurred" but has confidence in the medium-term outlook. ¶15. (SBU) The Karachi Stock Exchange gained 37.9 percent during the FY07. There has, however, been a decline of 11.8 percent in the Karachi 100 Index while market capitalization dropped by 13.7 percent or $8.46 billion since July 13, 2007. Foreign selling has triggered the drop in Karachi Stock Exchange as there has been a net outflow of $53.9 million during the last one month. (reftel) COMMENT ¶16. (SBU) Over the medium term, Pakistan's economy has done exceeding well. Per capita income grew at an average rate of 13 percent during the last five years. There has also been progress on the poverty front, even as the exact numbers are debated. Social indicators, including primary school enrollment and immunization, also improved by 44 percent and 43 percent respectively over the ISLAMABAD 00003694 004 OF 004 last five years. International debt reduction has allowed federal and provincial spending to double between 2003 and 2007. We are watching the current political and security situation as well as the choppiness in the international financial markets to see the magnitude of the effect on incoming investment, domestic investment decisions, and economic growth. ¶17. (SBU) There is a general perception that it will be very difficult for any political party to reverse the reform process in Pakistan. The media has become increasingly independent, and middle class spending in particular has fueled much of the current growth. However, the remainder of the current government and certainly the new government must address the structural issues -- lack of competitiveness, export concentration in few areas, low skill levels, insufficient infrastructure, dependence on foreign inflows to finance the trade deficit, and lack of investment in the energy sector - which prevent the China-style growth necessary to grow Pakistan's middle class. BODDE