Pakistan’s domestic demand recovery gains pace in FY27

Khurram Schehzad said on X that demand in Pakistan kept improving into July, the opening month of FY27, although progress differed from sector to sector. Automobile demand rose 30% in FY26 and quickened to 42% year on year in July. He linked that strength to better consumer confidence and easier financing conditions.

Petroleum demand, which had been broadly flat in FY26, jumped 23% year on year and rose 20% month on month in July, a shift he tied to greater mobility, transport and wider economic activity. Cement demand climbed 8% in FY26 and 6% in July, while mobile-phone demand grew 9% year on year after a sharp monthly rebound. Fertiliser was the exception, with demand falling 4% year on year in July following 17% growth in FY26.

Schehzad separated these demand, sales and offtake indicators from Large-Scale Manufacturing, which measures industrial output, and said the two increasingly strengthen one another. LSM expanded by about 5% in FY26, and he cited better private-sector lending and business sentiment as further support. Taken together, he suggested the expansion is spreading more widely through the real economy.