September 6, 2003	Saturday	Rajab 8, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Sept 5: The huge amount of economic assistance that Pakistan received because of its critical geographical position failed to help ordinary Pakistanis who continue to suffer during successive governments after the dismissal of the second PPP government.

This was stated by People’s Party Parliamentarians chairperson Benazir Bhutto in a statement issued by the PPP’s media cell on Friday.

Citing widening income disparities across various regions of the country, Benazir attributed this on the establishment’s refusal to conduct “an honest census as resources are divided on population basis.”

This, she said, leads to an imbalance on expenditure per Pakistani further widening the disparity between different regions.

She noted that the macroeconomic situation was “best under the PPP government,” which enabled businesses to thrive.

Without any outside assistance, she said, growth rate during the PPP government was 5.6 per cent, adding that despite foreign assistance that Islamabad received because of its joining the international war on terrorism the GDP growth rate was 5.1 per cent.

Benazir Bhutto said that while the privileged classes lived well, the poor in urban and rural areas were struggling for survival.

Quoting from a World Bank report, she said that the incidence of sanitation in Pakistan was 23 per cent less than other countries in the income group.