Over 2 crore Pakistanis may fall below poverty line after coronavirus pandemic economic losses
Shares
ISLAMABAD: Over 2 crore Pakistanis may fall below poverty line after coronavirus pandemic economic losses.
The government has submitted a detailed report on the macroeconomic losses expected to be incurred as a result of the coronavirus crisis, assessing that the GDP growth will go down by 1.3%, push 10% of population below the poverty line and cause three million in jobs losses in the coming months, *The News* reported on Saturday.
The report, submitted before the National Coordination Committee, indicates that different ministries and divisions within the government are going to face a Rs638 billion reduction in their revenues during the ongoing fourth quarter (April-June).
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will face a revenue loss of Rs800 billion by June 2020, the report stated.
The fiscal deficit, according to the official report, could climb up to 9.6% of GDP for the current fiscal year in the post-COVID-19 scenario, against the official projection of 7.4% in the pre-COVID-19 situation.
The report, 30 pages in length, was submitted before the NCC to help the top civilian and military leadership in reviewing the economic situation of Pakistan.
The official report on economic losses made another startling disclosure when it stated that “assuming that no economic activity takes place in Pakistan and there is a complete lockdown, it would take 1.66 weeks for Pakistan’s growth to drop to nil (zero)."
The IMF and World Bank had already projected shrinking of GDP growth and assessed real growth falling into negative 1.5% for the current fiscal year in Pakistan.
