According to the statistics released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the Large-scale Manufacturing Industries (LSMI) production increased by 5.02 percent on a year-on-year basis during the first month (July) of the current fiscal year (FY21) as against to the same month of previous year. Statistics also showed that the LSMI Quantum Index Number (QIM) was registered at 134.14 points in July 2020, against 127.73 points in July 2019. The highest rise experts recorded of 2.25 percent was witnessed in indices monitored by the Ministry of Industries, followed by 1.77 percent rise in indices monitored by the Provincial Board of Statistics and 1 percent rise in the products surveyed by the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC). Manufacturing sector is the driver of economic growth due to its forward and backward linkages with other sectors of economy. 
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Pakistan has consistently made efforts to improve the business environment in the country in collaboration with World Bank, International Finance Corporation. Furthermore on a month-on-month basis, the industrial growth witnessed a rise of 9.54 percent in July 2020 when compared with the indices of June 2020. The main sectors that explained growth during the period under review included textile (1.66 percent), food, beverages and tobacco (21.73 percent), coke and petroleum products (18.34 percent), pharmaceuticals (19.20 percent), chemicals (0.19 percent), non-metallic mineral products (29.01 percent) and paper and board (5.04 percent). On the other hand, the LSM industries that witnessed pessimistic growth included automobile (23.31 percent), iron and steel products (11.13 percent), fertilizers (5.06 percent), electronics (33.31 percent), leather products (35.95 percent), engineering products (32.60 percent), rubber products (15 percent) and wood products (18.63 percent).
It is pertinent to mention that the provisional QIM is being computed on the basis of the latest production statistics received from sources, including Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC), Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP) and Provincial Bureaus of Statistics (PBoS). The experts recorded that the government’s ability to control the COIVD-19 pandemic early has benefited Pakistan’s economy in terms of growth in the large-scale manufacturing sector. Large scale manufacturing numbers for July show more than 9 percent growth over June and more than 5 percent growth against July 2019. Pakistan would have to move towards creating a predictable business environment and a fair taxation regime for getting support for future investment.