In just four fiscal years (from 2000-01 to 2004-05), Pakistan government has spent nearly Rs one trillion ($16.7 billion) on projects related to poverty alleviation and social security. According to Pakistani government, this investment has paid off and rate of poverty in Pakistan has declined to 25.4% from 32.1% in just 4 years. For the last 4 years, Pakistan saw healthy GDP growth and it increased domestic consumption which led to the creation of more works for the poor people. Well, what is interesting to me is that Pakistan government has realized that good investment on poverty alleviation can actually help to decrease the rate of poverty but it is not investing a lot of money. I mean compared to a population of 150 million, $16.7 billion is not exactly a huge investment.
I believe that Pakistan and other South Asian countries should invest much more money on poverty alleviation. Especially, I like to see more investment on nutrition and education of children. If the governments can improve the condition of the children then South Asia will improve a lot within one generation.
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This is really a very good step for poverty alleviation and it will gradually make a very strong platform of the economy of Pakistan which ensures the overall development of a country. Here, I totally agree with you that nutrition and education of children should be more emphasized because children are the future of a country. All other South Asian countries should take such initiatives for the betterment of the country.
Thank you for your well- thought article.
Posted by: Biplob Kishore Deb | May 29, 2006 7:32 AM | Permalink to Comment