Islamabad: At the end of two years of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, 18 million more people may slip into abject poverty due to low economic growth and double-digit food inflation, claimed the countrys renowned economist.
Hafiz A. Pasha, the former finance minister of Pakistan and an earlier advisor of Prime Minister Imran Khan, said that eight million people have already been added to the ranks of the poor by the end of the first year of the PTI government. He has projected that 10 million more people will slip below the poverty line by the end of the current fiscal year.
“The situation is very alarming due to an economic growth rate that is close to the population growth rate and an exponential increase in prices of perishable food items,” said Pasha. “We do not have latest official poverty statistics,” responded Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar when he was contacted for the government’s version. (IANS)
