8 Social Sector Developments

Although gradually declining since FY81, Pakistan still has a relatively high population growth rate of
1.9 percent per annum. Such a high population growth creates unsustainable demands on already
scarce resources, and is one of the important factors contributing to the worsening of social indicators
in the country. The negative impact of the high population growth is compounded by neglect of the
social sector, in particular health and education, which meant that the productivity of the country’s
large labor pool has remained low.

If this situation is to change in the long-run, Pakistan has to focus on reducing its population growth
rate to sustainable level, while seeking to benefit in the medium term from its growing labor force
(since the demographic transition of the 1980s)1 by investing heavily in human capital development.

In this backdrop, this chapter examines important issues in social sector as well as the policy actions
followed by the government in its recently adopted Full-Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper to improve
the human development outcomes in Pakistan.

8.1 Pakistan’s Demography Box 8.1: Population Policy of Pakistan

Population policy 2002 is designed to achieve social and
Pakistan’s share2 in the total world population economic revival by curbing the rapid population growth
is 2.5 percent, which makes it the sixth most and thereby reducing its adverse consequences for
populous country after China, India, USA, development.
Indonesia and Brazil. The population growth
The overall vision of the population policy is to achieve
rate is still among the highest in the region.
population stabilization by 2020 through completion of
demographic transition. It is possible through attaining
The demographic scene in Pakistan shows balance between resources and population, creating
that while it appears to have made a awareness of adverse consequences of rapid population
breakthrough in achieving a declining trend in growth and through attaining reduction in fertility rate with
access and quality of reproductive health services.
fertility and population growth rate, these
changes are modest. More specifically, the The short term objectives of population policy include
total fertility rate (TFR) in Pakistan has reducing population growth to 1.9 percent per annum by
declined from 4.8 children per woman in 2004. Similarly to reduce the fertility rate to 4 births per
woman during the same time period. Long term objectives
FY00 to 4.1 children per women in FY04.
of population policy are to reduce population growth rate to
The lowering of fertility rate is significant but 1.3 percent per annum by 2020, reduce fertility rate to
is well above the replacement level (2.1 replacement level (2.1births per women) by 2020 and attain
children per women), which is the long-term universal access to safe family planning methods by 2010.
target of population policy (see Box 8.1). To
Focused areas of population policy are population
achieve these targets of Population Policy mainstreaming, incorporation of population factor in
2002, there is a need for sustained efforts to development plans, service delivery expansion, and
further reduce the population growth. improvement of quality through decentralization and
coordination among government and various stakeholders.
For financing purpose planning commission has allocated
Fertility transition is strongly associated with
an amount of Rs 9.5 billion for three years development
number of living children. Infant mortality plan (2002-05) an average of over 3 billion per annum.
rate (IMR)3 is positively linked with TFR.
IMR has fallen from 108 per 1000 in FY88 to There is need of proper implementation and monitoring of
85 in FY02 while TFR from 6.5 per woman the policy to achieve the desired result of population
stabilization.
1
The share of working-age population has increased by 2 percentage points over the last two decades.
2
2004 World Population Data sheet, Population Reference Bureau, Washington DC.
3
The number of deaths of children under one year per 1000 live births in a year.
State Bank of Pakistan Annual Report FY04

to 4.7 during the same time period.4 By the standards of comparable countries both these ratios are
still relatively high and need to drop rapidly.

There are various factors which lead to decline in population growth rate and to fertility transition.
First, increase in the mean age of marriage is a crucial factor that influences the fertility rate. The
average age at marriage of female has risen from 21.7 years in FY98 to 22.1 in FY00; whereas the
corresponding rise for males has been 25.8 to 26.3 years. The rise in age at marriage is probably due
mainly to expansion of female education. As a result the proportion of females being single in the age
group 15-19 years increased from 47 percent in 1972 to 83 percent in 2002.

Second, increase in the literacy rate on the part of the parents is also one of the contributing factors for
lower fertility rate because of the increased awareness on the benefits of maintaining a smaller family
size. Fertility rate is inversely linked with education, as the level of parent’s education increases, the
fertility rate declines. The level of education exerts its influence both directly and indirectly by
increasing the age at marriage. Education of females is more important than that of males in
influencing the fertility rates (see Figure 8.1a).

Figure 8.1: Fe rtility Differential

(a) by education level (b) by economic status
6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1
Middle

Secondary

middle

middle
None

Lower
very poor

Upper
Primary

Poor

Upper
Third, high differential in fertility rate is observed with respect to economic status of the household.
High fertility rates are more common in poor families than in the middle and higher income group
families. This is because a large family size ensures more earning hands for poor families. Wide
differential exists among the poor and the
well off with respect to TFR (see Figure Figure 8.2: Fertility Transition & Fe male
8.1b). Economic Participation
FLFPR T FR
Fourth, female labor force participation 12
(FLFP) impacts the fertility rate negatively.
10
With the increase in female participation in
the labor market, their family size reduces 8
(see Figure 8.2) FLFP impact fertility rates 6
directly by increasing the opportunity cost for
working women (well paid jobs) to stay at 4
home and having more children. It empowers 2
them to take active part in family decisions
and they become less dependent on children 0
for old age security. 1990 1995 2000 2001

4
Pakistan Integrated Household Survey 2001.
154
 Social Sector Developments

Contraceptive prevalence rate5 (CPR) is another indicator, which curtails the fertility rate. CPR
increased from 23.9 percent in FY97 to 31.0 percent in FY02. However knowledge about
contraceptive has become almost universal, i.e., 96 percent in FY02. In fact, the unmet need for
family planning services is estimated at 33 percent6 indicating the huge potential for further fertility
decline.

The demographic transition (movement from Figure 8.3: Population Age Group
high birth rates and death rates to lower birth
100% 64+
rates and death rates, see Box 8.2) has various
implications for the demographic scene of the 80%
country. The impact of the slow pace of
fertility transition in Pakistan can be 60% 15-64
examined by looking at the age structure of
the population. The age structure of 40%
population is an important feature of any
population as specific needs of population are 20% 0-14
determined by the age distribution. Due to
persistently high birth rate in the past, the 0%

1961

1972

1981

1998
overall age structure of the population is
heavily skewed towards the younger age
group (below 15 years), which constitutes
around 43 percent of total population in 1998 (see Figure 8.3). According to Pakistan Demographic
Survey FY01, 42.8 percent of males and 42.7 percent of females lie in the category of below 15 years
age group.

Share of the productive age group increased from 39 percent in 1981 to 41 percent in 1998. High
proportion of active population through their added productivity can produce a “demographic
dividend” for economic growth. The demographic dividend refers to a feature of age structure
described as the tendency for the working age population to grow more rapidly than the overall
population, once fertility has begun to decline. As a result of fertility transition, the share of labor
force in total population has increased (see Section on Employment). There was a marginal decline
of 1.5 percentage points during FY99 to FY02 in the share of old age population. The effects of the
larger proportion of elderly people are similar to those of a very young population because they are
also dependent, so a large proportion of resources are needed by relatively less productive segment of
the population, which can inhibit economic growth.

Comparison of Pakistan in age distribution Figure 8.4: Age Composition - C omparison 2001
0-14 15-64
with other selected countries shows that the 65+ Dependency ratio (RHS)
share of working age population is the lowest 80 90
in Pakistan due to its low pace of fertility 70 80
transition. Secondly, the proportion of 60 70
younger age group is also the highest in 50 60
Pakistan (see Figure 8.4). Proportion of old 40 50
percent

age group in population is lower in Pakistan 30 40

20 30
due to lower life expectancy than in other
10 20
countries. 0 10
Bangladsh
India
China

Malaysia

Pakistan

The above comparison demonstrates that the

speed of fertility transition is quite moderate
in Pakistan, which resulted in higher
5
The percentage of currently married women aged 15-49 years who are currently using a family planning method.
6
PIHS 2001.
155
State Bank of Pakistan Annual Report FY04

Box 8.2: Demographic Transition

The process of change from rapid population growth to slow population in human population is called demographic
transition. It is the process of change from population with both high birth and death rates (that are at or near
equilibrium) to a situation in which both birth and death rates are low (that are at or near equilibrium). Natural increase
or decrease in population is produced from the difference between the number of births and deaths.

Demographic transition takes place through four

stages. In first stage both birth and death rate are Figure 8.2.1: The Demographic Transition
very high. In second stage death rates began to fall CBR CDR
due to improvement in medical facilities’ but birth 40
rates remains very high. Third stage is
characterized by a simultaneous decline in both
death rates and birth rates. In the last stage, both 30
(birth as well as death rates) reach at subsistence

Rates per 1000

level (see Figure 8.2.1) Birth Rate
20
Reduction in the mortality rate occurs through Death Rate
development in terms of physical infrastructure.
Factors responsible for decline in mortality rates 10
are nutritional Improvements, medical Care
S- I S - II S - III S - IV
(curative), environmental health, access to
sanitation and clean water and communication and 0
transport. Years

Reduction in birth rate occurs through

development in terms of economic, social and
political infrastructure, where communities have some control over their future. Lower birth rate is associated with
socio economic changes, economic development and industrialization, financial security in old age, women education
and their given role in economy, government commitment to family Planning, political stability in preventing
disaster/civil war and equity (land reforms, distribution of wealth), and some security for future.

The pace of demographic change in a country varies depending upon its culture, level of economic development and
other factors. As countries pass through the various stages of transition, population growth from natural increase (birth
rate minus death rate) accelerate or decelerate depending upon the gap between death rates and birth rates.
Demographic transition results in change in age structure. Economic behaviors vary with the change in age structure.
Higher proportion of population in productive age can result in “Demographic Dividend” in the form of high savings,
increase in labor force, and increase in female participation rate.

However, only an increase in labor supply does not guarantee a high economic growth rather it also depends on the
quality of labor force that includes education, skills, experience and most of all better job opportunities for them.
Otherwise there will be an increase in the army of unemployed and crime rate. In fact the combined effect of large
working age population and health, family, labour, financial and human capital polices can create virtuous cycle of
wealth creation.

Source: P.Todaro, Micheal, “Economic Development”, 8th edition, 2002

proportion of dependent population than the other selected countries. Due to high proportion of young
and old age population in total population the “dependency burden” remained very high. The
dependency ratio7 is a simple measure indicating the likely impact of age composition on the
economic potential of the population. In FY01, the dependency ratio for Pakistan is at 85.5 percent,
showing the high burden on the economically productive segments of the population. At provincial
level the highest dependency ratio was in Balochistan followed by NWFP (see Figure 8.5).

8.1.1 Future Outlook

Despite the fall in the population growth rate, it will take several decades to reach country’s
population at stabilization level. According to population projections8 of United Nations Population
7
Dependency ratio measures the dependency burden on economically active population of age 15-64 years of dependent
population (below 15 and above 65).
8
World Population Prospects: The 2002 Revision, United Nation Population Division.
156
 Social Sector Developments

Division, Pakistan’s population size will

Figure 8.5: Dependency Ratio-2001
increase significantly in coming decades (see
Figure 8.6). Future expectation of increase in 100
population size may be attributed to the 95
following factors: (1) high proportion of
90
adolescent population (age 15-24) is around
20 percent. This means that a sizeable cohort 85

percent
will very soon be reaching childbearing age;
80
(2) the large proportion of females in their
reproductive life span (46 percent) also 75
adding to the built-in inertia of population
70
growth; and (3) increase in life expectancy at

Sindh
Punjab

Balochistan
NWFP
Pakistan
birth and fall in mortality rate.

8.2. Employment and Labor Force

Effective utilization of human capital is an
essential pre-condition for sustainable growth.
Figure 8.6: Paksitan Population Projection
The performance of Pakistan’s labor market
has not been satisfactory. High population Medium variant High variant Low variant

growth and lower GDP growth impact the 450

employment scenario negatively. 400
350
Employment to population ratio reflects the 300
capacity of an economy to provide
million

250
employment for working age population. It
200
can also be interpreted as an indication of how
efficiently an economy makes use of 150
productive potential of their working age 100
2000

2005
2010
2015
2020
2025
2030
2035
2040
2045

2050
population. In Pakistan employment to
population ratio remained almost stagnant and
27.7 percent for FY02. Employment
generation has not kept pace with the increase
Figure 8.7: Pakistan Employment to Population Index
in population.
Employment to population ratio
Index for unemployment rate
Performance indices (1995=100), Index for real GDP
employment to population ratio, 180
unemployment rate and real GDP shows that 160
as a result of poor performance of GDP 140
growth and low employment to population 120
100
ratio, unemployment rate kept on increasing
80
(see Figure 8.7).
60
40
8.2.1 Labour Force Participation 20
The labour force participation rate (LFPR) 0
gives an indication of how many people of
FY95

FY96

FY97

FY98

FY99

FY00

FY01

FY02

FY03

FY04

working age are actively participating in the

labor market. It is expressed as share of
employed plus unemployed people in comparison with the working age population.
According to labor force survey FY02, LFPR has increased from 29 percent in FY00 to 29.6 percent
in FY02. Disaggregated analysis of data indicates that participation rate (29.9 percent) in rural areas is
higher than in urban areas (29.1 percent).

157
State Bank of Pakistan Annual Report FY04

Gender disparity is clearly visible with respect to economic participation rate. LFPR for men is 48
percent in contrast to only 9.9 percent for women. In Pakistan for every 100 men in the labor force
only around 21 women are economically active. For south Asian region this ratio is hundred to forty.

Age specific participation rate analysis gives

Figure 8.8: Age Spe cific Participation Rate 2001-02
better idea of variation in LFPR by different
Overall Male Female
age groups. It is the highest between age
groups of 20-59 years for overall as well as 100

male and female categories. Female 80

participation rate for all age groups is lower
than male (see Figure 8.8) 60

percent
8.2.2 Structure of Employment 40
The trends in structural changes taking place
20
in the employment situation are very much in
consonance with the historical cross-country 0
experience. Agriculture sector loses its share

60+
10-14

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39
40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59
while non-agriculture sector gains. Within
the latter, informal sector is the major
provider of new jobs. Self employment and unpaid helpers are slowly and gradually replaced by the
employees. Structure of employment by major industry shows that agriculture sector is still the largest
contributor towards employment generating activities although its share has gone down by 6.3
percentage points as compared to FY00. Non-agriculture sector experienced a gain in employment.
As a result manufacturing, services, construction and trade related activities have shown increasing
trend in employment generation. Further, within the non-agriculture economy, the informal sector
accounts for 64.6 percent of total employment. Informal sector has accommodated more male workers
than females. Moreover informal sector classification by occupational groups shows that majority 34
percent are engaged in wholesale & retail trade activities followed by manufacturing (20.9 percent),
services (18.9 percent), construction (13.9 percent) and transport (11.7 percent).

The employment status indicates that employee’s category has increased from 35.6 percent in FY00 to
39.9 percent in FY02. In contrast, the other three (unpaid family helper, self employed and employers)
categories experienced a downward trend. Majority of female workers are engaged in unpaid family
helper category, as they are involved in farm activities in rural areas. On contrary for male workers,
self-employment is dominating category.

8.2.3 Regional Comparison

Pakistan’s regional comparison in employment performance indicators depicts disappointing results.
The Table 8.1 shows the poor standing of Pakistan in South Asian region with respect to employment
indicators.

Pakistan’s GDP growth has been the lowest in region, whereas labor force growth is the highest due
to high population growth during 1980s, resulting in low employment growth and high unemployment
rate. Strikingly, the country has the lowest female participation rate as percentage of males in the
region.

8.2.4 Unemployment Rate

According to labor force survey 2001-02, Pakistan labor force stands at 43.17 million and 3.6 million
people are out of active labor market, looking for a job. Recent trend indicates that unemployment
rate increased from 7.8 percent in FY00 to 8.3 percent in FY02. Regional as well as gender disparity
is evident with regard to unemployment rate. Urban unemployment rate (9.8 percent) was higher than
the rural one (7.5 percent). This may be related to disguised unemployment in agriculture sector in the
158
 Social Sector Developments

form of unpaid family helpers. Similarly, unemployment rate among female was substantially higher
than the male since 16.5 percent females and 6.7 percent male were unemployed in 2001-02.This
relatively high prevalence of unemployment among females induces some withdrawal from labor
markets and thus lower female participation rates. Unemployment rate has increased for males during
FY00 to FY02, but marginally declined for females. The reduction in female unemployment rate may
perhaps reflect better data coverage of females in surveys.
Table 8.1: Employment Indicators for South Asia
Annual
Annual GDP Annual labor force Unemployment rates Female LFPR
employment
growth rates (%) growth rates (%) (%) (% of male)
growth rates (%)
1995-2000 1995-2000 1995-LY 1999-2001 1995-2000
Pakistan 3.8 3.4 1.0 7.8 18
India 6.6 2.0 3.2 7.3 50
Bangladesh 5.1 2.6 1.6 3.3 64
Nepal 4.5 2.6 5.9 8.2 92
Sri Lanka 5.0 1.8 2.4 1.1 50
Bhutan 6.9 2.6 - 1.4 65
Maldives 6.7 3.4 4.2 2.0 38
Source: Human Development Report 2003,UNDP

At provincial level, wide disparity exists with Figure 8.9: Province-wise Unemployment Rate-FY02
regard to unemployment rate (see Figure 8.9).
14
It is the highest for NWFP (13 percent) where
out of 4.95 million labour force, 0.6 million 12
labour are unemployed and the lowest for 10
Sindh province (5.2 percent). 8
percent

6
Age specific unemployment rate illustrates
the variation in unemployment rate with 4
regard to different age groups. Higher rates 2
of unemployment are observed in the ages 0
between 10-24 and 60 years and above in

Sindh
Punjab
Overall

Balochistan
NWFP

FY02. Same pattern is observed for both

males and females. Unemployment among
females is higher than males in all age groups.
High unemployment in early age is due to
new entrants in the labor market and increased competition with already unemployed labor force in
order to get jobs. Old age unemployment may be partly due to the re-entrance of aged people in labor
market due to non-availability of social protection.

Parallel to the unemployment rate, the underemployment rate (the proportion of employed persons
who worked less than 35 hrs in a week) is fairly high in Pakistan’s labor market. It is 13.3 percent for
Pakistan with significant regional disparity of 15.4 percent for rural areas in contrast to 8.9 percent for
urban labor force. At provincial level it is the highest in Punjab (15.1 percent) and the lowest for
Sindh province (8.4 percent) with 14.5 percent and 12.4 percent for NWFP and Balochistan
respectively.

8.2.5 Link Between Unemployment Rate and Development Expenditures

To minimize the severity of unemployment problem, in the absence of adequate private sector
investment, the government has filled in the gap by creating jobs in the past.

159
State Bank of Pakistan Annual Report FY04

It is noteworthy that an inverse relationship

Figure 8.10: Unemployment and Development
between unemployment rate and development
Unemployment rate
expenditure as percentage of GDP is Development expenditure as % of GDP
observable in Figure 8.10. Analogously, 9
higher development spending would result in 8
lower unemployment rate. Thus, there is a 7
need to raise development spending which 6

percent
will increase economic growth and also 5
reduce prevailing high unemployment. As 4
long as the development expenditure creates
3
opportunities for productive employment, the
2
government has a role to play but creating
1
artificial jobs has serious pernicious effect on

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

2003
the economy.

To remain competitive in the international

economy and to avoid increasing
Table 8.2: Literacy Rate
unemployment and social unrest, there is a
percent of population
need to put more attention towards
Male Female Overall
employment generation through skill
Overall FY99 59 31 45
development and training for the work force.
FY02 60 34 48
FY04* 66.3 41.8 54
8.3 Literacy and Education
Educational deprivation is one of the major Rural FY99 52 20 36

contributing factors for low human FY02 54 23 38

development in Pakistan. Pakistan is placed at Urban FY99 73 56 65

142nd position out of 177 countries with FY02 75 61 68

respect to human development index (HDI), Source: PIHS 2001-02,*Economic Survey 2003-04
worse is the situation shown by the education
index where it stands among the bottom 10 Figure 8.11: Province-wise Lite racy Rates FY02
countries. Overall Male Female
70
Literacy rates for both men and women 60
increased at a very slow pace between FY99 50
and FY02 (see Table 8.2). The overall
percent

40
literacy rate is estimated at 54 percent in 30
FY04, probably due to the increased emphasis 20
on basic education in the country to achieve
10
Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of
0
universal primary education. However, still
Sindh
Punjab

Balochistan
NWFP

68.4 million people are illiterate in the

country. The literacy profile depicts a
substantial gender specific and rural urban
disparity. Though the gap has declined
between FY99 and FY02, it is still large especially in case of rural-urban literacy rate.

Similar kind of gender and regional disparity also exists at provincial level. Between the provinces,
literacy ranges from 36 percent in Balochistan to 51 percent in Sindh (see Figure 8.11). The lowest
literacy rate at 16 percent prevails among rural females of Balochistan, while the highest rate at 64
percent among the urban males in Sindh.

160
 Social Sector Developments

The analysis of literacy by age profile for rural and urban population provides useful insights. In
urban areas, literacy rate decreases with age (higher literacy for lower age group). Gender disparity
has almost eliminated for 15 to 19 year age group (see Figure 8.12a, Urban). In contrast, rural literacy
rate is increasing and gender gap is very prominent for all age groups. The gender gap is the highest
for 25-34 year age group (38 percentage points) and the lowest for 10 to 19 year age group-20
percentage points (see Figure 8.12b, Rural). The gender gap indicates the non-availability of
appropriate education facilities to girls in rural areas. Similarly, rural-urban gap for male literacy rate
declines with lower age group whereas it widens for female literacy rate with lower age groups.
Figure 8.12: Lite racy Age Profile FY02

Male Female T otal

a. Urban b. Rural
90 90
80 80
70 70
60 60
50 50

percent
percent
40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
50 – 54

25 – 29

50 – 54

25 – 29
60 +

55 – 59

45 – 49

40 – 44

35 – 39

30 – 34

20 – 24

15 – 19

10 – 14

60 +

55 – 59

45 – 49

40 – 44

35 – 39

30 – 34

20 – 24

15 – 19

10 – 14
8.3.1 District Level Indicators Table 8.3: Bottom 20 Districts’ Literacy Rates
At district level, analysis of educational District Literacy (%) HDI Ranking
deprivation confirms the relationship between Awaran 14.8 81
lack of education and low human development. Barkhan 15.7 71
The ranking with respect to human Batgram 18.3 83
development index is worse for the districts Bolan 15.7 84
having lower literacy rate (see Table 8.3). The Dera Bugti 11.7 91
table indicates that the 20 districts at bottom in Hafizabzd 19.6 46
terms of literacy rate and their ranking with Jafferabad 18.5 62
respect to human development index. Jhalmagsi 12.3 87
Kalat 19.8 74
Substantial regional disparities also exist at Kharan 15.1 86
district level within the same province. In Killa Abdullah 16.1 79
Punjab literacy rate varies from 70 percent for Killa Saifullah 17.5 61
Rawalpindi to 19.6 percent for Hafizabad. Kohistan 11.1 89
Similarly for Sindh it varies from 68.2 percent Kohlu 12.2 85
for Karachi to 18.3 percent for Tharparker. Loralai 20.5 13
Abbotabad district is at top with 56.6 percent Nasirabad 12.7 45
literacy rate and Kohistan at bottom with 11 Shangla 14.7 90
percent in NWFP. While in Balochistan the Tharparker 18.3 88
highest-ranking district in terms of literacy rate Upper dir 21.2 82
is Ziarut (34.3 percent) compared to the lowest Zhob 16.8 68
ranking district of Dera Bugti (11.7 percent). Source: Pakistan National Human Development Report 2003

Province wise share in bottom 20 district shows that Balochistan accounts for 70 percent followed by
NWFP (20 percent), Sindh (5 percent) and Punjab (5 percent). As a result of which Balochistan share
in HDI in bottom 20 districts is also dominating (see Figure 8.13).

161
State Bank of Pakistan Annual Report FY04

8.3.2 Gross Primary Enrollment Rate

The gross primary enrolment rate (GPER) is
Figure 8.13: Province-wise Share in Bottom 20 Districts
another important indicator to judge the
in Terms of HDI
performance of educational sector in the
country. The growth of the GPER is not very Balochistan
NWFP
50%
encouraging only a one percentage point 35%
increase from 71 percent to 72 percent during
the FY99-FY02 period. Due to the persistent
low level of primary enrolment and high
population growth, 5.8 million children of 5-9
age group are still out of schools; over half of
them are girls (see Box 8.3) on gender
disparity with respect to primary enrolment
rate.
Sindh Punjab
High drop out rate of children from the 15% 0%
schools further worsen the situation Majority
of students leave the schools before reaching
grade five due to lack of access to education Figure 8.14: Gross Primary Enrollment Rate FY02
facilities, high opportunity cost of education Male Female Both
etc (see Box 8.4). 100

80
The GPER low performance is mainly
attributed to low enrollment in government 60
percent

schools, worsening quality of education, 40

shortages of trained and qualified teachers and
lack of proper physical infrastructure and 20
rising poverty level. 0
Sindh
Overall

Punjab

NWFP

Balochistan
Gender as well as regional disparity is also
apparent in the GPER. Females of
Balochistan have the lowest rates and males
of NWFP have the highest (see Figure 8.14).
To meet the targets of Educational Sector reforms (ESR)9 as well as the National Education Policy
(NEP), there is a need to pay more attention on this issue.

By now,the emperical basis for low education sector outcome is quite well established. First, low
public expenditure on education is one of the major causes for the poor performance of educational
indicators. During the 1990s, public expenditure on education has been around 2.3 percent of GNP,
which was considerably lower than the minimum of 4 percent of GNP recommended by the UNESCO
for developing countries. Second, the inability of poverty stricken people to bear the expenses of the
education of their children is another reason. According to PIHS 2001-02, 40 percent of boys and 26
percent of girls never attended schools because of the expensive education. Moreover 36 percent of
girls’ parents in contrast to 4 percent of boys parents did not allow them to attend schools. The main
reason behind is the very high opportunity cost of education for them. Punjab’s recently introduced
District Education Program which provides cash stipends to female students, offers a promising
avenue for raising the enrollment rates among the females. Third, non-availability of schools is one of
the important issues in this regard. In 1992-93 one public school was available for 248 children in the
5-14 age groups. This increased to 264 children in 1999-2000, indicating a relative decline in the
availability of schools.

9
To achieve 100 percent gross primary enrolment rate up to year 2005.
162
 Social Sector Developments

Fourth, access to school is another important dimension and is relatively more important concern for
girls whose families don’t allow them to attend the school situated far away from home. According to
PIHS (2002), only 66 percent villages had a school for girls within one kilometer of the village centre.

Box 8.3: Gender Disparity in Education

Despite the well recognized importance of female education, wide gender disparity is observed at all levels of
education. As a result literacy rate in females is lower (41.8 percent) in contrast to males (66.3 percent).

There are various social and economic reasons for low female enrollment. Some of the contributing factors for low
enrollment rate of female include: (a) Parents don’t want to send their girls to schools as they considered that it is just
wastage of resources because female have to play typical role of housewives in future. On the other hand, boys are
their earning hands,36 percent of females in country are unable to attend the schools because their parent didn’t allow
them to do so. At provincial level this rate is the highest in Balochistan (55 percent) due to high social constraints in
this province; (b) Education is expensive and parents can’t afford the expenses of education of their children.
Whenever there is trade off between boys and girls for sending schools. Parents prefer to expend on boy’s education;
26 percent of female students unable to attend the schools due to high cost of education; (c) Another reason for wide
gender disparity is non availability of schools for girls in nearby place. Their families usually don’t allow them to
attend the school situated far away from home, 14 percent girls in the country are unable to attend the schools because
schools are too far from their homes. And last but not least is the (d) physical conditions of schools also matters.
Parents feel insecure to send their girls to a premise which is without boundary wall and other facilities, 10 percent of
female students don’t attend schools due to poor school building and non availability of female teaching staff.

There is need to stress on female education because the benefits of female education are manifold, directly by social
empowerment of females and higher economic participation rate and indirectly through better child care and decline in
fertility rates.

Fifth, private sector participation in Table 8.4: Education Indicators for South Asia
provisioning of educational services can’t be Adult Female
Gross
overlooked. Share of the private schools in literacy literacy
enrolment
Expenditure
ratio(% age rate(% age as % of
Pakistan is 18.4 percent. At provincial level it 15 and 15 and
ratio for all
GNP
is 27 percent for Punjab, 14 percent for NWFP levels
above) above)
and 12 percent for Sindh. It is the lowest in 2001 2001 2000-01 1998-2000
Balochistan at 4 percent. The low share in Pakistan 44 29 36 1.8
Balochistan may be due to poor infra-structure India 58 46 56 4.1
facilities in the province. There is a need to Nepal 43 25 64 3.7
encourage the Private sector and NGOs by Bangladesh 41 31 54 2.5
facilitating them particularly in Balochistan to Sri Lanka 92 89 63 3.1
target the bottom 20 districts with respect to Source: Human Development in South Asia 2003,MHDC
literacy rate. The National Commission on
Human development (NCHD) which has successfully carried out some innovative work in the field of
promoting primary education should focus its attention on these bottom 20 districts. Finally, the
quality of educational services provided by the government is not satisfactory. According to National
Reconstruction Survey 2002, overall 45 percent of households showed their dissatisfaction with
government services available in their areas.

Pakistan’s performance in the educational sectors has not been satisfactory when compared with the
other countries of South Asian region (see Table 8.4). Not only gross enrollment rate but also female
literacy rate remained lagging behind other south Asian countries. The public expenditure on
education as percent of GNP was the lowest (1.8 percent) in Pakistan compared to other countries of
the region.

Given the fact that adult literacy rate and gross enrollment ratio are education related indicators used
for computation of Human Development Index (HDI), the progress in these indicators can contribute
significantly in improving the HDI ranking of Pakistan, which is at present very dismal and the lowest
in the South Asian region.

163
State Bank of Pakistan Annual Report FY04

Box 8.4: Drop out Rates

The drop out rate is defined as the percentage of Figure 8.4.1: Province wise Drop-out Rates
students who drop out from school before reaching
Male Female overall
grade five. It is one of the serious issues in
education sector because high drop out results in 25
reduced enrollment rate and pull away from the
target of achieving 100 percent enrollment rate. 20
Drop out also increases the unit cost of school
15
graduates and in turn, internal inefficiency of the

percent
education system.
10
According to PIHS (2001-02), the drop out1 rate is 5
at 15 percent. It has declined marginally from 16
percent in FY96 to 15 percent in FY02. Provincial 0
level analysis shows that it is the highest among

Sindh
Punjab

Balochistan
NWFP
NWFP females and the lowest for Balochistan
males. Moreover females drop out rate is higher or
equal to male drop out rate in all provinces except
Punjab where the situation is reverse (see Figure
8.4.1). The drop out rate increases with the
increase in the class level.
Table 8.4.1: Reasons for Leaving School Before Completing
Primary
One possible reason for the high rural drop out rate
is non availability of schools in the villages, Boys Girls
particularly for females. As a result female drop out Reason Urban Rural Overall Urban Rural Overall
rate is 17.7 percent for class five in rural areas in Parents didn’t allow 4 2 3 16 18 17
contrast to only 7 percent for urban areas. It
Too expensive 35 26 29 24 17 19
increases further at alarming rate of 47 percent for
class 6, which indicate the poor/non availability of Too far 0 2 2 1 7 6
secondary school facilities in rural areas. Had to help at
work/home 9 10 10 9 10 10
There are various reasons for high drop out rate (see Child not willing 39 49 46 28 24 25
Table 8.4.1).Poverty of opportunity is also clear Other 11 11 11 20 22 21
from the fact that 29 percent of boys and 19 percent Source: PIHS 2001-02
of girls are unable to continue their education
because their parents were unable to bear the
expenses of their education. Nearly one fifth of the Figure 8.4.2: Drop O ut Rate by Income Group
girls were unable to continue the schools as their Urban Rural Overall
parent s didn’t allow them. It is a point of serious 60
concern that for boys the dominating factor for
drop out is that they are not willing to attend the 50
schools. The “other” includes poor teaching
40
behaviors, no female staff, child sick/handicapped
and child too young etc.
percent

30

Inequality in the income distribution is also 20

reflected in access to education opportunities. The 10
drop out rate is the highest among the lowest
quintile2 and vice versa (see Figure 8.4.2). 0
Quintile

Quintile

Quintile

Quintile

Quintile
2nd

3rd

4th

5th
1st

1
Children aged 10 -18 years that left school before completing primary level, expressed as a percentage of all children
aged 10-18 years that have attended school in the past, or are currently attending school, but excluding those children
currently attending school that are presently enrolled in Class 5 or lower
2
The 1st quintile contains individuals with the lowest consumption level, whereas the 5th quintile contains individuals
with the highest consumption level.

164
 Social Sector Developments

To achieve the goals of various education polices and remain competitive in the world economy, it is
important to pay adequate attention to formation of human capital through education enhancement. To
overcome the education sector deficiencies, it is necessary to increase allocation on education along
with improved governance and strengthening of management. Keeping in view the scarcity of
resources and weaknesses of the public sector, public-private community partnership to achieve goals
of human welfare can be a wise choice.

8.4. Health Status

Indicators of health status do not depict an
impressive picture. Though the performance of Table 8.5: Health Status Indicators
life expectancy and mortality rate followed a 1980 1990 1995 2001 2002
positive trend (see Table 8.5) over the years Life expectancy 55 59 61 63 64
but needs further improvement at faster pace. Mortality rate (per 1000 live 105 96 90 81 82
Life expectancy improved from 55 years in FY births)
1980 to 64 years in FY04, which is an Mortality rate, under 5(per 1000 156 138 125 108 105
encouraging sign as it is close to the average live births)
for developing countries i.e. 64.4 years. Infant Source: World Bank Data Base
mortality rate declined from 105 per 1000 in
Table 8.6: Health Service Indicators
FY80 to 85 in FY02 but it is still the highest
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
in the region. Although medical facilities have
Population per doctor 1590 1578 1529 1516 1466
been increasing continuously but seem far
Population per nurse 3992 3822 3732 3639 3347
behind the required level (see Table 8.6).
Population per bed 1450 1492 1495 1490 1517
Availability of one doctor for 1466 and one
Source: Economic Survey 2002-03
bed for 1517 person reflect the poor condition
of services available in the country.
Figure 8.15: Trends of Health Expenditure
The dismal condition of health sector in Growth As a percent of GDP (RHS)
Pakistan is mainly attributed to inadequate 16 0.80
resource allocation. Though over the last two 14 0.78
years, growth in public health expenditure
12 0.76
jumped from 4 percent in FY 02 to 13 percent
10 0.74
in FY 03 and followed almost the same trend
percent

percent
in FY 04. A decline in overall allocated 8 0.72
amount for health is observable in FY 03 but 6 0.70
a sharp increase in FY04 (see Figure 8.15) 4 0.68
depicts that the importance of this sector has 2 0.66
been realized and more likely will be one of
0 0.64
the most focused areas of the government in
FY00 FY01 FY02 FY03 FY04
future.

Though in most of the low-income countries of the world, the health sector typically accounts for 3-4
percent of GDP that is considered low and needs to be enhanced (see Box 8.5). However in Pakistan
it is towards the lowest side even among the developing countries (see Table 8.7). Public spending of
the country on health as percent of GDP is too low as compared to its peer group while the private
sector participation is comparable. Private sector spending is 65 to 70 percent of the total health10
expenditure. This sector provides the services through a network of 21000 clinics, 450 diagnostic
laboratories and 520 small to medium size hospitals. But Private sector always works for the
maximization of its own benefits and ignores the welfare aspect. It thus results in efficiency
(provision of quality services) but at the cost of equity.

10
Pakistan Human condition Report 2002
165
State Bank of Pakistan Annual Report FY04

Box 8.5: Public-Private Partnership in Pakistan

In most developing countries, the public sector lacks the capacity to deliver services to entire population. Thus the
issue is to raise the public financing, as it is too low. Typically public sectors in developing countries do not have
capacity to cater large population. In this situation public-private partnership is a viable option. So far no theory has
defined an optimal level of overall funding or share of public and private participation. In low-income countries, the
health sector typically accounts for 3-4% of GDP while in high-income countries it is 6-15%. In 1990 (Jonson &
Mosgrov in Schieber 1997), developing countries accounted for 78% of the world population but only 10% of its health
expenditure. Within Low-income countries, there’s very uneven distribution of health care in low-income countries
between richer and poor groups.

8.4.1 Health Poverty Linkages Table 8.7: Health Expenditures as Percent of GDP
Health sector can not be analyzed in isolation Public Private
especially when the link between Health and Turkey 3.6 1.5
poverty has been recognized internationally as China 2.0 3.4
three out of Eight Millennium Development Sri-Lanka 1.8 1.9
Goals (see Box 8.6) are aimed directly at Iran 2.8 3.6
improving health as a way to fight world India 0.9 4.2
poverty. These two sectors have two-way Bhutan 3.6 0.4
Cause and effect relationship. Bangladesh 1.6 2.0
Pakistan 1.0 3.0
Human development dimension of poverty
also defines poverty as deprivation of the basic necessities of life, explaining a close link between
health and Poverty. Ill health leads to lower efficiency and so lower returns resulting in aggravating
poverty. Moreover the poor have to spend more on this unavoidable need due to low standards of
living. Therefore improving nutrition and health conditions are important for poverty alleviation that
in turn will leave a positive impact on health indicators by enabling them to spend more on quality of
life.

Box 8.6: Millennium Development Goals

The members of United Nations broadened the vision of development by emphasizing on Human development and
Global Partnership for Development in Sep 2000 at Millennium Declaration. The goals have been commonly accepted
as a framework for measuring development progress. Achieving the MDGs by 2015 will require more focus on
development outcomes and less on inputs, to effectively measure national progress towards meeting the MDGs, and to
engage even more closely with our partners in helping governments to improve human development. The first seven
goals are mutually reinforcing and are directed at reducing poverty in all its forms. The last goal-global partnership for
development- is about the means to achieve the first seven.
The importance of Health in all the plans relating to Poverty Reduction and Economic Development was realized at the
time of Millennium Declaration and three (4,5 and 6) out of eight Goals are about Health.
GOAL 4: Reduce Child Mortality:
Target 5: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate
GOAL 5: Improve Maternal Health:
Target 6: Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio
GOAL 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Other Diseases:
Target 7: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS Target 8: Have halted by 2015 and begun
to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.

In Pakistan, health has been a neglected sector. Almost 45 percent women (45 years of age and above)
of low income of rural areas suffer from poor health and over 80 percent suffers from poor to fair
health while 60 percent men of the same social set up suffer11 from poor to fair health. Almost 17
percent of the urban and 47 percent of the rural population don’t have access to clean drinking water
contribute to 30 percent of hospital cases and 60 percent of recorded infant12 deaths. So improvement

11
NHRD/PIDE report 2001
12
Pakistan Economic Update Asian Development Bank 2004

166
 Social Sector Developments

in health sector is not only important to have positive impact on health indicators but also enable
people to break this vicious circle of poverty with better health conditions.

8.4.2 Policy Implications

Public sector has been providing basic health care, secondary health services, dealing with issues like
high population growth; mal nutrition etc and expansion of physical infrastructure but the limited
resources results in inefficiency. Government has admitted its limitation and aimed at encouraging
the private sector to increase its participation in this sector (see Box 8.7). The present public and
private partnership in this sector can be very effective but needs to be implemented wisely.

Box 8.7: Development of Health Sector in 5 years Plans

The First Five-Year Plan emphasized on infrastructure, research centers, medical schools and anti-malaria and anti-
tuberculosis program. The Second Plan assigned priority to the preventive over the curative services. Mostly the
targets were achieved but indicators depicted the deteriorated conditions due to the higher rate of population growth
during the plan period. The primary health care and rural areas’ health remained neglected and under funded until the
basic rural health programmes received a greater focus in Seventies. Third Five Year was aimed to make the most
essential health services available to all the members of the community and to develop an integrated health service with
greater emphasis on Public Health and especially in rural areas, but the scheme for rural health centers registered slow
progress. This plan also included a large Family Planning Programme to reduce the population increase in the country
being the major cause of worsening situation of the sector. This plan also focused on encouraging the active
participation by local communities in the formulation and implementation of health programmes. As in Third plan, the
targets for rural health care centers were not achieved so in Fourth Plan, the main focus was on rural health centers
and a balance between preventive and curative services. This plan had been suspended due to war of 1971but the
policies, which were formulated after that and before Fifth Five Year plan, emphasized on the same rural health centers
and higher medical education. During this period the main concern was on curative measures. Fifth Plan tried to
reduce the shortcomings of fourth plan by focusing on Preventive measures. The Sixth Plan has successfully changed
the direction by giving due importance to preventive and promotive aspects and primary health care. The importance of
private sector was widely recognized and planned to make environment conducive for this sector. Though this sector
grew slowly during the period but concessions like soft loans helped the private sector to pick up. During the Seventh
Plan, the major focus was again on removing urban rural imbalance, providing care to vulnerable groups,
establishment of school health services, and the incentives to private sector for effective role in preventive and
promotive health care and to improve the quality of services. More than forty percent of total spending was earmarked
for rural health programmes. Private sector couldn’t fully achieve its targets as given in the Seventh Plan due to
unregulated private practice and lack of proper financial and technical incentives in the establishment of private clinics
and providing preventive and promotive health services. Realizing the out reach access of private sector, it was
encouraged to maximize its role in the provision of curative services in Eighth Five Year Plan as well. The
achievements of targets for public sector in this five-year plan are quite encouraging as indicated by maximum
utilization (96 percent) of financial resources of Rural Health programs.

In the given scenario where outreach access of private sector is much more than public sector but
inequality is an externality, negatively affecting the indicators of health. The private sector though
extensive in Pakistan but is concentrated in urban sector and on secondary health facilities. Here the
need is of the supervisory role of government. Though the public sector is already providing the
regulatory services but it needs to strengthen its capacity for regulation and monitoring as the
prevailing monitoring system is not very effective and doesn’t cover the private sector fully. Public
sector may also focus on provision of basic health while the private sector may emphasize on
provision of quality of health services. Even for the provision of basis health care, government has to
focus on the policies those can encourage medical staff to work in areas where quality of life is low
and need for those services are higher. The medical staff can be moved to those rural areas for
provision of basic health if they are compensated against all those difficulties. The competition in
private sector will induce the improvement in the quality of services provided while government
regulation may minimize the effects of inequality. Not-for-profit and non governmental organizations
who are doing intensive work in the field of health care should also be given full support and
encouragement. They must move out of big cities to rural areas particularly in the 20 backward
districts.
167
State Bank of Pakistan Annual Report FY04

8.5 Poverty Reduction Strategy

The Government recognized the rising trends of poverty in the country during the 1990s and adopted
a comprehensive strategy for poverty reduction in November 2001, which is further strengthened by
adopting the full Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) in January 2004. The full PRSP illustrates
a more comprehensive strategy including policies to accelerate pro-poor economic growth. The
poverty reduction strategy is centered on the following five areas (see Figure 8.16): a) accelerating
economic growth and maintaining macroeconomic stability; b) investing in human capital; c)
augmenting targeted interventions; d) expanding social safety nets; and e) improving governance.

The acceleration of growth in manufacturing sector and the achievement of the real GDP growth rate
of 6.4 percent in FY04 indicate that government strategy started giving its fruits and promise good
prospects for poverty reduction. Higher economic growth will cause higher public expenditure in
education. At the micro level, the growth will enable household to send their children to school and
to spend more on good quality of life. At the macro level, growth will generate greater resources
enabling the government to increase spending on education, health, water and sanitation Thus higher
growth provides fiscal space for increasing the pro-poor budgetary expenditure.

8.5.1 Pro-Poor Expenditures

The government is committed to raising poverty reducing public expenditure at least by 0.2 percent of
GDP per annum starting FY 2001-02. Despite the fiscal adjustment and containing the budget deficit,
the government raised its pr-poor expenditures from Rs.208.5 billion in FY03 and to Rs. 253.9 billion
in FY04 indicating an over all increase of 21.8 percent in pro-poor expenditure. Even, the spending of
Rs.254 billion in FY04 is higher than the PRSP target of Rs.238 billion for FY04. The pro-poor
expenditure in FY04 was 4.3 percent of GDP compared to 3.8 percent of GDP in FY03. This clearly
reflects a greater focus of government policy in raising the budgetary expenditure that will more likely
to benefit the poor.

The pro-poor budgetary expenditures Figure 8.17: Growth in PRSP Expenses During FY04
increased in thirteen out of fifteen sectors. An 60
increase in PRSP expenditure is observable in 50
all sectors with the exception of food 40
30
subsidies and Tawana Pakistan Programs.
20
percent

Although the government released the funds 10

for Tawana Pakistan programs but it could not 0
be utilized. On the other hand, food subsidies -10
could be sustained at the previous level in -20
FY03. The government has also expanded -30
the range of PRSP expenditure in FY04. The -40
Food Subsidies

Law and order

highways &

Education

Overall
Irrigation

Development
Health

law and order, administration of justice and

Roads,

Rural

rural electrification has been included due to

their close link with determinants of poverty.

The highest percentage increase was in social

security (218 percent), followed by
Population Planning (57 percent), Irrigation (47 percent) and Food support (39 percent). In contrast to
this, the percentage increase in education was relatively low (see Table 8.8 and Figure 8.17). The
expenditure in these sectors, which account for more than 48 percent of pro-poor budgetary
expenditure, grew by 24 percent and 18 percent, respectively in FY04. Although the increase in
education and health is a welcome development, it is still low relative to other developing countries.
As a result country’s education and health indicators remained poorer than the countries with similar
level of development. The spending on education and health is vital and plays a key role in building
human capabilities to come out of poverty. To reduce poverty, it is essential to address the root causes
168
 Figure 8.16: Pakistan’s Poverty Reduction Strategy: 2003

Economic Growth Investing in Augmenting Expanding Improving

with Macro- Human Capital Targeted Social Safety
economic Stability Intervention Nets Governance

Public Finance Small & Medium Devolution Plan

Enterprises Zakat, Usher and
Education Bait-ul-Mall System
Monetary Policy Industrial Reforms
and Financial Sector
Reforms Micro finance
Facilities Civil Service
Health
Khushhal Food Support Reforms
Pakistan
Trade Liberalization Programme Programme
and Export
Tameer-e- National Anti-
Promotion Pakistan Corruption
Population Welfare Programme
Social Protection
System Freedom of
Investment Policy Housing Finance Information
and Privatization

National Rural Development

Commission for Strategy Indigenous Fiscal
Human Philanthropy Decentralization
Supportive Development
Infrastructure Employment
Strategy for the poor

Accelerated Labour Market Creation of Extreme Poverty Improved Access to

Economic Growth Mobility Employment for the Elimination Rights and Services
Poor

Opportunities for the Poor Increased Income of the Poor

Improved Welfare and Living Standard of the poor

State Bank of Pakistan Annual Report FY04

of poverty adequately such as deprivation of education and health. This is also critically important
because economic growth and socioeconomic indicators are interlinked. Greater access to education
and health facilities contributes to higher rates of economic growth, which, in turn, enables the
government to increase spending on building human capacity to come out of poverty. The increased
fiscal space due to higher economic growth and restructuring of external debt should be utilized for
raising spending on education and health further in FY05.

Table 8.8 : Pro-poor Budgetary Expenditure

Expenditure as % of GDP*
FY03 FY04 % change FY03 FY04
Sectors
Roads, highways & bridges 13145 16455 25.2 0.14 0.27
Water supply & sanitation 3421 4176 22.1 0.11 0.07
Education 78447 97959 24.9 1.51 1.63
Health 22368 26581 18.8 0.44 0.46
Population planning 3120 4913 57.5 0.03 0.06
Social security & other welfare 1301 4142 218 0.08 0.03
Natural calamities & disasters 410 543 32.4 0 0.01
Irrigation 15535 22938 47.7 0.23 0.32
Land reclamation 1733 1997 15.2 0.04 0.04
Rural development 16883 18379 8.86 0.28 0.35
Rural electrification 0 1977 0 0 0
Food subsidies 10859 7845 -28 0.13 0.23
Food support program 2017 2804 39 0.05 0.04
Twana Pakistan 800 400 -50 0.02 0.02
Low cost housing 0 423 0 0 0
Administration of justice 2196 2444 11.3 0.05 0.05
Law and order 36293 40000 10.2 0.7 0.75
Overall 208528 253976 21.8 3.8 4.33
*Based on new GDP base 1999-2000

The PRSP projects an increase at the rate of 0.2 percent of GDP per annum in pro-poor expenditures
during FY04 to FY06 (see Figure 8.18). Allocation of these resources while controlling fiscal deficit
is a major challenge that the government will face in coming years. For that, the country would need
concessional lending, grants and debt swaps to release resources for achieving desirable targets for
human development and poverty reduction.

While pro-poor expenditures are essential Figure 8.18: PRSP Budgetary Expenditure (projections)
elements of a poverty reduction strategy, the Development Current T otal
real test of these expenditures lies in their 5.0
impact on poverty. Keeping in view the lag 4.5
between expenditures incurred on human 4.0
development and outcome realized it is 3.5
percent of GDP

difficult to assess policy performance 3.0

immediately. To monitor the outcome and 2.5
impact on poverty and human development, 2.0
1.5
the government has established a set of
1.0
intermediate and final outcome indicators 0.5
linking public expenditures with the results on 0.0
the grounds. The government needs to speed FY02 FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06
up the process of conducting Core Welfare

170
 Social Sector Developments

Indicators Questionnaire Survey to determine baselines, which should be updated on annual basis to
monitor the outcome. There is also a need to expedite the Pakistan Integrated Household Survey to
monitor the final outcome indicators and impact on poverty. However, consistency and continuity in
polices have set the stage for rapid growth which eventually will improve the conditions of the poor.
Nevertheless, the findings13 of Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) conducted in
April and May, 2004 suggests that macroeconomic polices and pursuance of poverty reduction seems
to have started yielding positive results in the form of higher GDP growth. The rising poverty trend in
the country has been arrested and social sector indicators and living condition indicators have also
shown improvement. However, before drawing a conclusion from the findings, one should bear in
mind that HCES, 2004 has certain limitations because of its smaller sample size and shorter duration
relative to PIHS 2001-02. In order to draw an unambiguous conclusion about the trend in poverty
between 2001-02 and 2004, one needs to wait for the findings of Pakistan Social and Living Standards
Measurement Survey (PSLM) 2004-05, which is being carried out in the country.

13
Economic Survey, 2003-04, Government of Pakistan.
171