South Asia Investor Review

Center for Poverty Reduction ( CPRSPD ), backed by the United Nations Development Program(UNDP), has estimated that Pakistan's poverty at national level declined sharply from 22.3 percent in 2005-06 (versus India's poverty rate of 42% ) to 17.2 percent in 2007-08. Prior to this report, the 2009 UN Human and Income Poverty Report said the people living under $1.25 a day in India is 41.6 percent, about twice as much as Pakistan's 22.6 percent. The latest poverty estimate of 17.2% has been validated by the World Bank . It should not be a big surprise, given the close relationship between poverty reduction and robust economic growth that Pakistan saw from 2005-06 to 2007-08. The economic slowdown has only occurred in 2008-09, which appears to have resulted in some visible poverty increase on the ground since the middle of last year. However, there seems to be a deliberate effort being made by some politically motivated Pakistani economists and politicians to delay the release...

Regardless of the criticism of President Musharraf's politics or personality, there is general agreement among independent economists that, through his structural reforms and economic management , President Musharraf left Pakistan's economy in much better shape than he found it when he seized power in 1999. Here are some of the key highlights of the results of Musharraf era economy: 1. Pakistan's tax base and government revenue collection more than doubled from about Rs. 500b to over Rs. 1 trillion. 2. Pakistan's GDP more than doubled to $144b since 1999. 3. Most recent figures in 2007 indicate that Pakistan's total debt stands at 56% of GDP, significantly lower than the 99% of GDP in 1999. 4. Pakistan attracted over $5 billion in foreign direct investment in the 2006-07 fiscal year, ten times the figure of 2000-01. Contrary to accusations by Musharraf's detractors that it was an artificial consumer-led growth, it was really an investment-led boom that Pakistan...