Lahore School Paper presented at Pakistan Institute of Development Economics Generates Attention

According to a recent case study by Zunia Saif Tirmazee and Mariyiam Haroon of the Lahore School of Economics presented at a Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) seminar earlier this month, growth in Pakistan has not been inclusive.

Pakistan has experienced tremendous economic growth over the last decade, but this did not reduce poverty and inequality.

Perhaps mainly because of this reason, the country is far from achieving 16 targets of the Millennium Development Goals set for 2015. These particularly relate to universal primary education, reduction in extreme poverty and hunger (notwithstanding major contribution by an effective BISP), gender equality and women empowerment and lowering of child mortality rates.

Over 12m children are still out of school. Half of young children are under nourished and more than 39m people are still defined as poor. And the population growth rate of 2pc suggests that Pakistan would become the 5th most populous nation by 2050, further constraining limited resources. The youth bulge is already emerging more as a challenge than a dividend.

Launched in July, the Planning Commission's Vision 2025 recognised these challenges and hinted at pursuing steps to achieve the goal of private sector-led growth for a competitive economy and sustainable growth.