Nearly half of Pakistan lives below poverty line, extreme poverty increases: Report

A World Bank report has revealed that a whopping 44.7 per cent of people in Pakistan are living below the poverty line ($4.20 per day). This alarming figure exposes the failure of successive Pakistani governments to effectively address the rampant poverty afflicting nearly half of the nation's citizens.

An ANI report quoting Geo News claimed that extreme poverty ($3 per day earnings) has increased from 4.9 per cent to a whopping 16.5 per cent. The multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) indicates that over 30 per cent of Pakistan's population suffers from severe deprivation in health, education, and living standards. On the other hand, countries close to Pakistan -- like China, Bangladesh, and Nepal -- have taken strides as far as poverty alleviation is concerned. These nations employed several strategies to extricate their peoples from poverty, including industrial growth and social reforms.

While China's extreme poverty rate was below 1 per cent, Nepal's was just 2.2 per cent.

The report said Pakistan's dire financial situation is exacerbated by its massive social welfare programs, which are not able to bring the desired results. They also ensured that its budget remained bloated.Overreliance on these handouts without integrating effective poverty graduation methods leaves millions trapped in dependency, it added.

The lack of a comprehensive, updated poverty database cripples targeted policymaking, leaving millions invisible to the state's welfare mechanisms, the report added.

It said that without institutional reforms, Pakistan will continue to trail behind regional neighbours. It also called out fragmented data systems, bureaucratic inefficiencies, and limited coordination among aid agencies, saying these vices undermine meaningful progress.

Pakistan, where the military is the biggest power centre, remains impoverished, with it footing its import bills from doles from foreign institutions.