Large Scale Manufacturing Index up 1.6% 

Muhammad Haris

Large Scale Manufacturing Industries (LSMI) for Nov’23, indicates a 1.6% increase compared to the same period last year. 

LSMI Index stood at 114.9 during Nov’23 against 113.1 in the same period last year.

Additionally, on a month-on-month basis, LSMI experienced a 3.6% increase.

However, in the five months of the current fiscal year, LSMI registered a decline of 0.8%. 

Tahir Abbas head of research at Arif Habib said that the overall pressure on LSM was attributed to a slowdown in economic activity and subdued consumer demand resulting from high inflation, driven by increased energy costs.

He said that the relaxation of import restrictions played a crucial role in stimulating LSMI growth. 

Furthermore, the recent decline in Treasury bill yields in auctions suggests that investors anticipate the peaking of interest rates and expect interest rate cuts soon. Consequently, any reduction in interest rates is expected to enhance LSMI output, Tahir said.

The sector-wise increase during Nov’23 was led primarily by:

Textile (+0.4%),  Food (+1.7% YoY), Chemicals (+9.2% YoY), Coke & Petroleum Products (+2.8% YoY), Wearing Apparel (+27.8% YoY), Pharmaceuticals (+23.6% YoY), Beverages (+19.1% YoY), Leather Products (+3.6% YoY), Machinery and Equipment (+99.5% YoY), Other Manufacturing (+7.5% YoY), and Wood Products (+31.8% YoY)