ISLAMABAD, July 24: Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said on Tuesday that it was necessary to bridge the gap of inequality in the country, which could be done through the continuation of the four measures the government had introduced earlier.
While speaking at a dialogue series on “Poverty and Inequality” organised by the World Bank, Shaikh said the measures includedthe introduction of an agricultural pricing policy that helps the farming sector, increased expenditures on providing social safety nets especially to the poorest and most vulnerable segments of society.
Increased sharing of federal resources with provinces provided a major boost in transfers for the latter, he added, and a concerted effort was being made by the Federal government to have a regionally balanced development of infrastructure throughout the country.
According to experts, growth is a prerequisite for poverty reduction, but it alone does not suffice as pro-poor policies and equitable growth are essential for the advancement of the vulnerable segments of society.
Francois Bourguignon, Director Paris School of Economics, an eminent authority on micro determinants of poverty and a former Chief Economist of the World Bank Group delivered the keynote presentation at the occasion and said that, “absolute poverty reduction has to be the main goal of development.”
“Global experience shows that while globalisation and growth can lead to inequality, it needs not necessarily be so. Domestic policies can reduce inequality without impairing growth,” Bourguignon argued.
Bourguignon welcomed the World Bank’s initiative of expanding the development discourse in Pakistan but challenges still remained for Pakistan to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor.
A cost-effective approach to address inequality in society would be through the redistribution of accumulated resources such as education, health services and access to credit among the poor, according to Bourguignon.
“Poverty and inequality are two topics that are at the core of the World Bank mission,” said Rachid Benmessaoud, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan. “This dialogue is taking place at a time where Pakistan faces the challenge of accelerating growth and fostering employment following a series of natural disasters.
In the light of the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the challenge for making growth pro-poor now lies not only with the federal government, but with the provincial governments as well,” he remarked.
Farzana Raja, Member of National Assembly and the Chairperson of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) said that poverty was a gross violation of basic human rights.
She said that the recent achievements of BISP included poverty scorecard based targeting system, female headed household as selection criteria, and financial inclusion by payments through the banking system.
She also called upon the development partners to help motivate the corporate sector in joining hands with BISP to help provide social safety nets to the poorest of the poor.