By Irfan Ahmed ISLAMABAD, March 30 (INP-WealthPK): The overall large-scale manufacturing industry (LSMI) growth was recorded at 7.9% in January 2022 compared to the preceding month of December 2021, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The provisional quantum index of the large-scale manufacturing industry (QIM) has been computed based on the latest production data of 112 items. On year-on-year (YoY) basis, the industry grew by 6.3% during January 2022 compared to the growth of January 2021, WealthPK reported. The overall output of the LSMI increased by 3.9% during July-January 2021-22 compared to the corresponding period of 2020-21. The QIM was recorded at 153.1 points during July-January 2021-22 against 147.4 points during July- January 2020-21, showing a growth of 3.9%. The provisional QIM is being computed based on the latest production data received from sources, including the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC), Ministry of Industries and Production (MIP), and provincial bureaus of statistics (BOS). The Ministry of Industries' indices increased the most by 3.3% from July to January (2021-22), followed by the Provincial Board of Statistics' (BOS) indices, which increased by 0.6%, and the OCAC goods, which decreased by 0.03%. The production in July-January 2021-22 as compared to July-January 2020-21 has been increased in textile, food, beverages & tobacco, chemicals, automobiles, iron & steel products, leather products, and paper & paperboard while it decreased in non-metallic mineral products, fertilizers, and electronics & rubber products. The major industries that showed positive growth during July-January 2021-22 included textile with 1.4% growth, food, beverages & tobacco 5.3%, pharmaceuticals 1.1%, chemicals 6.7%, automobiles 34.4%, iron & steel products 22.8%, leather products 6.1%, paper & board 8.2%, and wood products showed 172.2% growth. On the contrary, the commodities that witnessed negative growth during July-January 2021-22 included, coke & petroleum products (0.5%), non-metallic mineral products (3.1%), fertilizers (0.6%), electronics (7.9%), rubber products (25.6%), and engineering products (1.2%). The OCAC recorded month-on-month (MoM) positive growth of 12.9% in January 2022 against the previous month and 0.7%, negative growth was recorded YoY in January 2022 against January 2021. The data showed that the Ministry of Industries-related sectors witnessed a growth of 8.7% in January 2022 against December 2021 on MoM basis, while it registered a 6% growth in January 2021 on YoY basis. [caption id="attachment_65453" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics[/caption] The petroleum products witnessed negative growth of 0.5% as its output decreased from 8.309 billion liters in July-January 2020-21 to 8.268 billion liters in July- January 2021-22. On YoY basis, petroleum products witnessed a 0.7% decline in January 2022 and remained at 1.148 billion liters compared to 1.156 billion in January 2021. Cement production witnessed 3.5% negative growth during July-January 2021-22 and remained 27.854 million tonnes compared to 28.854 million tonnes during the corresponding period of last year. On YoY basis, cement production witnessed an 18.1% decline in January 2022, and remained 3.505 million tonnes compared to 4.281 million tonnes in January 2021. The number of refrigerators produced grew by 18.1% from 691,975 units in July-January 2020-21 to 817,413 units in July-January 2021-22. On YoY basis, refrigerators’ production witnessed a 24.2% decrease in January 2022, standing at 76,527 units compared to 100,960 units in January 2021. In the first seven months of the fiscal year 2021-22, the number of jeeps and cars witnessed a 64.7% increase to 81,256 from 133,791 in the same period of the fiscal year 2020-21. Sugar production witnessed a 4.2% growth during this period and remained 3.968 million tonnes compared to 3.808 million tonnes during the corresponding period of last year. On YoY basis, sugar production witnessed a 12.2% increase in January 2022 and remained 2.162 million tonnes compared to 1.926 million tonnes in January 2021. The production of the LSMI was strong in January, and it appears that the industry will continue to function well in the near future. The economic strength of a country is measured by the development of manufacturing industries. Industries help in reducing unemployment and poverty. The manufacturing sector is crucial for the employment generation and development of an economy.