The growth estimate for Pakistan for fiscal year 2024 has been downgraded to two per cent by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as per a report issued on Tuesday. This is a 0.5 percentage point drop from the previous estimate of 2.5 percent in October. The IMF’s forecast is lower than the government’s target of 3.5 percent GDP growth for the year. Meanwhile, the IMF has raised its 2024 global growth forecast to 3.1 percent, citing resilience in major economies such as the United States and China. However, despite the upgrade, the IMF predicts that global growth will remain below its recent historical average due to factors such as elevated interest rates and the withdrawal of pandemic-related government support. The IMF also highlighted subdued growth in the euro area and challenging forecasts for some European countries. Despite this, the overall global economic outlook for 2024 appears to be less gloomy than in 2023.