ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the government authorities would approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a second relief package as the third Covid-19 wave had paralysed the country’s service sectors.
While addressing the launching ceremony of the United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) Pakistan National Human Development Report on Inequality, the prime minister said due to COVID-19 in Pakistan, “Our service industry has been really badly hit.”
“We are going to speak to IMF because we see disruptions ahead, PM Imran said. Just when our economy was recovering and all the signs were positive. We will have to appraise the whole situation and our new Ehsaas Program,” he added. The prime minister said Pakistan was having a far worse third wave than the first one.
He said in the US with a population of 330 million, around $4 trillion were given out to corona-hit people as compare to Pakistan which distributed just $8 billion among a population of $220 million. “So I think, this is time for the second COVID relief package and we will evidently talk to IMF,” Imran Khan added.
The prime minister observed that the IMF head realized the seriousness of the situation as conditions could not be imposed on the people already suffering owing to the plague.
The report released by the UN body points out the areas that have deficiencies, the people that have been left behind, and the situation of the religious minorities and transgenders, PM Imran noted. The premier said that the data from the report will help “to protect these people by directly subsidizing them”.
The report, presented by the lead author Dr Hafiz Pasha, highlighted several dimensions of inequality in Pakistan.
These dimensions have been captured both at the national and provincial levels, exploring inequality between and within Pakistan’s provinces.
Besides, inequality has been measured from the perspective of people focusing on women, children, youth and labor.
The report takes a comprehensive approach, exploring not just economic steps such as income and wealth, but also studying inequalities in human development – the true measure of a country’s success.
PM @ImranKhanPTI addressing launching ceremony of UNDP's Pakistan National Human Development Report (NHDR) on Inequality https://t.co/TWyk9qdNmY
— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) April 6, 2021
