The rising rate of unemployment stands as a real challenge for the government.
KARACHI: Among the devastating challenges countries around the world are facing in the wake of the global pandemic, the economic meltdown is the most formidable one. To contain the virus, slowing down of business and commerce activity appears to the best way forward. As the world spiral into the worst economic crisis that mankind has ever witnessed, developing countries such as Pakistan are the ones that are suffering the most.
The rising rate of unemployment that is reflected in the loss of jobs for 80 million people, according to the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, stands as a real challenge for the government. Being aware that this challenge might trigger a grave socio-economic crisis, the government decided to ease the lockdown in the country by re-opening business activities in order to reduce burden on the already crippling economy. However, the government doesn’t realise that by doing so they are playing with fire as the rapid increase in the coronavirus cases have put millions of people’s lives at risk. The government needs to understand that a nation can only be prosperous if its people are healthy. Therefore, the wellbeing of the people should be the most important priority.
The ruling elite needs to take into notice the example of those countries who continued the lockdown until the curve started to flatten. In this respect, addressing people’s woes through prudent policymaking, keeping a vigilant eye on prices of commodities and navigating the chances of the upcoming food crisis should be the top priorities of the government.
Hadia Mukhtar
Published in The Express Tribune, June 14th, 2020.
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