How poor is Pakistan?

CHANTILLY, VA, US: Syed Mohammad Ali’s article of November 3 titled “How poor is Pakistan?” was very good.

I would like to present some suggestions in this regard as well. The Statistics Division has to be made autonomous and this means having its own independent budget. The Tariff Commission and the Consumer Rights Commission need to be made autonomous too. In fact, they should have their own service with their own pay-scales to attract the best talent.

I do not know why we don’t do more surveys on our own. What better way to employ our educated youth? I was just reading about private forecasters in Argentina who calculate their own estimates of inflation and they came up with a figure of 24 per cent, whereas the government was claiming eight per cent.

Pakistan’s private universities, with their handsome endowments and wealth, need to take on these issues. They should undertake surveys on all aspects of the economy, including poverty.

Finally, we should remember that private social safety nets and workers’ remittances have had significant mitigating effects on poverty — despite high inflation and high unemployment. We may be the biggest tax-cheats in the world but we are also a nation that gives far and beyond what is required of us.

But this needs to be studied — not speculated upon as I am being forced to do in the absence of solid empirical data.

Meekal Ahmed

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2011.