Estimating Quarterly Gross Fixed Capital Formation

In Pakistan, only annual estimates of national accounts are available officially. Although quarterly real gross domestic product has been estimated by some studies like Kemal & Arby (2004) and Bengaliwala (1995), no attempt has been made so far to estimate quarterly gross fixed capital formation – a key macroeconomic variable. This study presents a methodology to quarterise gross fixed investment in Pakistan and estimates a quarterly series for the period 1971Q3 to 2006Q2. Using the commodity flow approach, total gross fixed investment has been disaggregated into four components, i.e. machinery and equipment, furniture and fixture, structure and land improvement for annual data of selected years and then each component is quarterised on the basis of related indicators for which quarterly data is available officially.