Construction Take-off: Saving Grace

Arguably, few incentive policies in Pakistan have yielded such instantaneous results as the one introduced a few months ago by PM Imran Khan on construction; pegging industrial growth to the building and construction sector making it the ultimate catalyst for manufacturing and jobs. It is a time-tested formula—construction is a great propellant for economic growth.

There are at least 40 ancillary sectors tied to construction, including large and small manufacturers of bricks, marbles, cement, steel, tile, wood, paint, glass and so on. Two major indicators: cement and steel show tremendous outcomes. Cement tapped a new high in Oct-20 selling nearly 6 million tons of cement in that month; a historic high (read more “Cement: Grabbing the bull by its horns”, Dec 4, 2020) while long steel products also gathered steam. Industry players in both sectors are gearing for a fresh round of expansions