December 9, 2003	Tuesday	Shawwal 14, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 8: Redistribution of assets through land and tenure reforms is a key requirement of any programme to reduce poverty and empower the poor and marginalized section of the society, says the Pakistan Human Development Report 2003 (PHDR) released here on Thursday.

The present level of fixed investment at about 13 per cent of the GDP, the PHDR remarks, is not enough to support the required growth rate. Investment level must increase to about 17 per cent of the GDP in the medium term (attained in the 1980s and 1990s) and above 20 per cent of the GDP in the long-term perspective, particularly public-sector investment.

While education at the secondary level emerges as a powerful explanatory variable in the analysis of poverty dynamics, it observes that universal primary education is insufficient (though necessary) medium term national goal for poverty reduction.

Instead, functional literacy for the adult literacy programmes and secondary education should become Pakistan’s national goals.

The authors of the report apparently could not entirely shed the underpinnings of neo-liberal policy regarding the government’s role. This was evident from its emphasis on primary health care to the complete neglect of the role of rising cost of medicines for chronic diseases associated with rising life span which has pushed countless middle class families into the ranks of the utterly poor.

Based on the analysis of numerous other variables constituting the factors contributing to poverty, the PHDR also made several recommendations.

It said quality of physical assets should be improved through investments in water and agriculture sectors and primary health care be available to every individual at the doorstep with full immunization coverage for mother and child, child-spacing facilities and promotion of better nutrition practices.

The report said with the present level of public expenditure, it was not likely that the needed infrastructure would be developed. Because of time lag of two to three years in the development of infrastructure and increased private investment, it is necessary that additional public allocations be made for the development of infrastructure, it added.

It said public expenditure analysis in Pakistan suggested that much broader and deep taxation and expenditure rationalization reforms were needed to create additional fiscal space. Unless government revenues are increased by about 20 per cent of the GDP in the medium-term and 25 per cent in the long- term perspective, the high growth targets and targets associated with poverty reduction and human development are not likely to be achieved, it said.

The Fiscal Transparency Law, imposing zero deficits on revenue account needs a serious review. Economic and social spending must receive priority. Public expenditure, particularly development expenditure, needs to be increased from the present level of three per cent to five to six per cent of the GDP in a medium-term framework to meet the PRSP (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper) and other economic and social development requirements, the report said.