Pakistan, June 6 -- Pakistan's economic growth is projected to be a modest 2.44% in the fiscal year 2024-25, showing only a slight improvement from last year's 1.7%, according to the Lahore School of Economics (LSE) Modelling Lab. This forecast aligns closely with recent downward revisions by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and estimates by the World Bank, IMF, and ADB, highlighting the fragile nature of the country's recovery.

The slowdown is primarily due to continued weakness in manufacturing and underperformance in agriculture. Large-scale manufacturing has contracted by 1.9%, while agriculture has expanded by only 0.56%, well below its long-term average. Sharp declines in key crop outputs-wheat, maize, sugarcane, rice, and cotton-...