Islamabad (TDI): The World Bank warned on Wednesday that about 10 million Pakistanis could face acute food insecurity during the current fiscal year, with poverty levels expected to rise.
The warning coincided with the World Bank’s downward revision of Pakistan’s economic growth forecast to 2.7 percent, attributing the slowdown to stringent economic policies that dampening national output.
In its flagship biannual Pakistan Economic Update report, the global financial institution also projected that the government is unlikely to meet annual budget deficit target. Moreover, it warned that the country’s debt burden is likely to rise both in absolute terms and relative to GDP.
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The World Bank warned that adverse climatic conditions have disrupted the production of major crops like rice and maize, placing approximately 10 million people, primarily in rural areas, at risk of severe food insecurity in FY25.
The report shed light on critical issues that often overlooked in official discourse, including food insecurity, poverty, and unemployment and decreasing real wages.
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With population nearing 2 percent, the situation is expected to push an additional 1.9 million people into poverty this fiscal year. The employment-to-population ratio also stands at 49.7 percent, highlighting low labor market participation, especially among youth and women, bank noted.
The report noted that social protection expenditures have not kept pace with inflation, constraining resources available to the poor for food, education, health, and other critical items, with negative implications for human capital and labor productivity.
It also said that 37 percent of youth and 62 percent of women are not in education, employment, or training.
