Web Portals in Pakistan: a solution to economic crisis?

Prime Minister Imran Khan has launched the ‘Data4Pakistan Portal’ which is part of the government’s flagship Ehsaas initiative and has been developed in collaboration with the World Bank.

What is Data4Pakistan portal?

The portal aims at providing the public with access to poverty estimates for every district along with development and policy indicators.

Addressing the launching ceremony, the prime minister said the government is determined to alleviate poverty as no country can progress if a significant portion of its population lives in poverty.

PM Imran Khan said the web portal is the first step in finding necessary ways and means to fight poverty and that a civilised society is known by the standard of living of its poor.

The portal will help identify the areas which are in most need of funds, besides finding other vital statistics about issues being faced by the local people.

Data4Pakistan will also help in policymaking at a higher level as well as budget allocation. The prime minister vowed the budget will be on need and merit basis without any political or other influences.

Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection Dr Sania Nishtar said Data4Pakistan is the first initiative of its kind in the country and provides open and public access to an interactive portal that has poverty estimates for every district in Pakistan, along with over 120 development and policy indicators.

She said the portal currently has six rounds of district poverty and development data, covering the period 2004-2018. This portal will be a very valuable resource for federal, provincial and district level policymakers for decision making.

2020 – Year of Jobs

Prime Minister Imran Khan has promised that 2020 would be the year of jobs, employments and housing facilities for deserving people. He has said it was the duty of the government to support vulnerable and downtrodden segments of society.

Despite the prime minister’s claims, Pakistan economy is in dire straits and facing serious challenges on the fiscal and external fronts, while inflation is getting out of control.

On the fiscal front, the main challenges are insufficient revenue generation and high fiscal deficit whereas on the external front, exports have low growth and there are fears of a slowdown in remittances.

Oil slump – Boon for Pakistan

The drop in oil prices in the global market would bring in positive developments for Pakistan’s economic indicators along with a further reduction in petroleum rates and inflation control.

Imran Khan has sought suggestions from various ministries on how to capitalise on this low price environment as this low price will not remain in the long run.

Oil plunged over 25 percent after top exporter Saudi Arabia launched a price war in response to a failure by leading producers to strike a deal to reduce supplies. Saudi Arabia launched an all-out oil war with the biggest cut in its prices in the last 20 years.

The slump does emerge as a positive for Pakistan’s economy. Pakistan meets over 70% of its energy requirements through imports. The plunge in crude oil prices can help Pakistan save in oil and gas imports and decelerate inflation.

Pakistan needs to take its full advantage at the earliest and is in the process to implement an effective strategy to boost its oil reserves, buy at low payments, and improve its economic indicators.

The Solution

The government has received a $6 billion bailout package from the IMF and the third tranche worth $450 million is expected to be released soon. The prime minister’s economic team considers increasing prices and raising taxes as the most effective ways to raise revenue.

Economic independence cannot be isolated from government independence and the imports of expensive items should be curtailed. The government should work to improve the economic conditions and the self-imposed artificial wheat and sugar crisis rather than building web portals.