Pakistan's growth remains strong.

On January 19, 2007, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) issued a report on the progress of the Pakistani economy for the first quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2007. The SBP is the country's central bank. The SBP said, "The likelihood of achieving 7 percent growth target for FY07 remains strong." This growth estimate is the same as the one published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in September 2006.

The SBP said that one of the key reasons for this anticipated growth was the continued economic support of the United States (US).

The SBP said further that it was pleased with the release of some pressure on inflation at the same time that growth appeared to accelerate. The IMF estimated growth for 2006 at 6.2 percent.

Infrastructure improvements are a continuing challenge. Specifically problematic is infrastructure recovery from the October 2005 earthquake, which devastated parts of the country.