Half of Pakistan's income owned by 20 per cent of its population

The speakers at a session on human development and inequality on Saturday called for the redressal of systemic flaws that have led to a rise in income inequality in Pakistan.

The panellists at the session titled, Human Development and Inequality, of the first international conference on economics and sustainable development hosted online by the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), expressed the view that the issues of inequality must be understood in terms of wealth and ownership in the economy, and discourse on fighting inequality must be along the lines of foreign influences, gender disparity and social mobility, reported The Express Tribune.

The session, held in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), began with opening remarks by UNDP Pakistan's resident representative Knut Ostby, who emphasised the need to understand economic situations through the lens of power, policy and people.


To address inequality in Pakistan, he stressed on thinking of sustainable growth in lines with income and social mobility. Approximately 20 per cent of the population holds half of the total income generated in Pakistan, he said.

The panel also featured Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar, senior researcher at the Collective for Social Science Research Ayesha Khan, SAPM on Revenue Dr Waqar Masood Khan, IBA executive director Dr Akbar Zaidi.

Adding to Osby's initial remarks, Dr Zaidi emphasised on the factor of land ownership and the influence landowners have on the country's politics - and by extension, in policy-making, reported The Express Tribune.

Dr Masood posed the question of fiscal policies and factors that contributed to inequality in the country. He argued that financial exclusion, which refers to a lack of financial services such as credit transfers and loan facilities, was a major contributor to inequality.