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Poverty statistics are critical

64 33
07.01.2025

In Pakistan administration after administration errs on the side of data manipulation to show better performance than is in fact the case, which indicates that political as opposed to economic considerations remain paramount.

One may argue that not releasing data does not necessarily imply that the government of the day is not aware of the extent of the prevailing issues that are critical in putting in place mitigating measures/policies in a timely manner.

This is particularly the case when the country is on a rigidly monitored International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, as we are today, and given that we have been on a Fund programme for most of our history this criticism loses a bit of its pungency.

In Pakistan, however, collecting critical data with political implications has often been routinely deferred, an example is the delay in the census that allows for demarcation of constituencies as well as distribution of resources, (detailed results were uploaded recently on the seventh first digitalized population and housing census); or deferring collection of data that would compromise the government’s claims of improvement in key indicators, an example being the Household Income Survey that was last carried out in 2019 and which incapacitated governments - PTI, Pakistan Democratic Movement, caretakers and PML-N led coalition- from assessing domestic poverty levels which, in turn, has disabled the current economic team to understand that the massive decline in inflation – from over 35 percent to the 4.1 percent in December 2024 – has not generated a feel-good factor within the general public.

Besides, not collecting poverty data has not implied that two other credible sources are........

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