ABSTRACT

Population Population 164.741 mn Urban population (2005) 35% Population under 15 37% Population 65 and over 4% Average annual growth rate 1.98% Geography Land area 803,940 km2 Agricultural area (2005 to 2006 Provisional) 34% Capital city Islamabad Population of capital city (2005 est.) 800,000 Economy Monetary unit Pakistan Rupee (Rs) Exchange rate (average fourth quarter 2008) to: the pound sterling Rs 119.06 the US dollar Rs 78.90 the euro Rs 109.17 the yen x 100 Rs 88.00 Average annual inflation (1998 to 2007) 5.9% Inflation rate 7.8% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at market price US$ 143.65 bn GDP per capita (PPP) US$ 2,600 Average annual real change in (GDP) (1998 to 2007) 5.6% Private consumption as a proportion of GDP 47.0% Gross domestic Investment as a proportion of GDP 23.0% Construction Gross value of construction output (2006) Rs 143,916 mn

THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Construction Output

Benefiting from both public and private investments, the construction industry of Pakistan is a prime source of employment generation on offering job opportunities to millions of unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled work force. The construction sector has been one of the star performers of the fiscal year 2004-2005, as against a sharp downturn of 10.7% in 2003-2004. The construction sector recorded an equally sharp upturn of 17.9% in 2006-2007. In year 2007-2008, the trend of slow growth was recorded in construction industry as the growth rate curtailed from 17.9% (recorded in 2006-2007) to 15.2% (recorded in 2007-2008). The industry saw a decline of 2.7% in year 2007-2008. The decline in 2007-2008 was mainly caused by devaluation of Pakistan Rupees and high inflation, which was observed globally. In the last two years, the government has taken various budgetary and nonbudgetary measures which yielded positive results and thus construction activities in Pakistan gathered momentum. The budget allocated for construction and transportation increased from Rs 6.2 billion (US$ 78.7 million) in fiscal year 20072008 to Rs 6.5 billion (US$ 82.5 million) in fiscal year 2008-2009. More funds have been allocated to the construction industry for its betterment and growth.