Balochistan’s Musa Khel — the capital of economic discontent in Pakistan

Islamabad’s residents report improvement in economic conditions; 51% households in Karachi say they’re worse off.

KARACHI:  For those looking to move within Pakistan, don’t head to the districts of Musa Khel in Balochistan or Muzaffargarh in Punjab.

Residents of the two districts believe that their economic situation has worsened considerably in the past year. In Musa Khel alone, 90% of households felt they were worse off.

The Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement survey for 2010 – 2011 conducted by the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) includes data on perceptions from households in four provinces. Forty-three per cent of households in Pakistan believe they are worse off than last year, 40% said conditions had been consistent, while 16.5% felt their economic situation had improved.

The data reveals that the districts where people felt their economic conditions had improved for the better were Islamabad, Umerkot, Mansehra and Washuk.

However, Umerkot and Mansehra were only marginally improved when compared to other districts, while Washuk was the only district in Balochistan where over 60% of households said their economic situation had taken a turn for the better.

Washuk is followed by Quetta, with almost 40% people saying their economic conditions had improved. Fifty per cent of households surveyed in Balochistan believe they are faring worse compared to the past year.

Conditions in districts like Thatta, where 73% households said their economic situation had worsened, are likely to be exacerbated further by this year’s flooding in Sindh. It is a feeling shared in the provincial capital of Karachi as well, which is ranked third in districts where households reported declining economic conditions.

It is also understandable why residents of Muzaffargarh and Kohistan believe their conditions deteriorated over the past year, as the two were heavily impacted by the floods last year. Kohistan was hit by flash floods again this August.

Natural disasters also caused sources of income to change.  In its report on income and consumption expenditure data, the FBS speculates that the decrease in agricultural income and from owner-occupied dwellings is due to the damage caused by the floods in 2010.

However, the percentage share of income gained from foreign remittances has increased since 2007-2008, from 4.31% to 4.67%. The report also notes that there has been an increase in paid employees, from 50.66% in 2007-2008 to 53.4% in 2010-2011. The average number of earners per household has decreased in all provinces. There is also a higher average number of earners per household in rural areas than in urban - 1.89 as compared to 1.75.

There is also a deficit between income and expenditure in Sindh, as well as in certain income brackets in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The average monthly net income and expenditure in Pakistan is Rs 21,291 and Rs19, 336 respectively.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2011.