Jawad Ahmed ISLAMABAD, April 27 (WealthPK-INP): The commercial banks' outstanding credit to the food manufacturing sector jumped by 17.1% to Rs1.046 trillion in March 2022, according to the data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), reports WealthPK. The outstanding borrowing by the food manufacturing sector stood at Rs8.94 billion a year ago in March 2021. The significant rise in outstanding loans implies that the economy is recovering from the epidemic. According to the SBP statistics, credit demand for sugar manufacturing increased by 13.5 percent in March FY22 to Rs418.143 billion, up from Rs368.37 billion in the same month of previous year. Outstanding borrowing by the manufacturers of grain mill goods increased to Rs252.535 billion by the end of March, up from Rs202.651 billion in the same month the previous year. Borrowing by the manufacturers of vegetable and animal oils and fats grew to Rs146.1 billion in the month compared to Rs125.5 billion in the same month of the last year. The commercial banks provided Rs140.930 billion for construction of buildings during the corresponding month. An amount of Rs69.77 billion was provided for construction of residential and Rs71.16 billion for non-residential buildings. Bank loans to the textile industry rose to Rs1.449 trillion in April 2022 compared to Rs1.126 billion a year ago. The commercial banks' overall outstanding credit to the manufacturing sector jumped by 25.6% to Rs4.337 trillion in March. The outstanding credit to the manufacturing sector stood at Rs3.454 trillion a year ago in March 2021. The huge increase in outstanding loans indicates that the economy is recovering from the epidemic and the investors are ready to invest. Large scale manufacturing industries, including other businesses, showed a healthy growth in the ongoing fiscal year. Large-scale manufacturing (LSM) grew by 7.6% during the first seven months (July-January) of FY 2021-22 as compared to 1.8% during the same period of FY 2020-21. Pakistan’s textile industry accounts for the lion's share of all commodities exported. It earned $11.794 billion in the first eight months (July-Feb) of FY2022. During the same time period, food exports such as rice, wheat, fish, and vegetables totaled $3.256 billion. Besides, through Temporary Economic Refinance Facility (TERF), the SBP enabled investors to acquire the needed funded investment from commercial banks on highly competitive terms for one year to satisfy their orders and to maintain their capital investment plans during the pandemic. The central bank has made the financing available under TERF to not only textile or large-scale manufacturing industries, but also to small and medium-sized businesses.