LAHORE:A meeting with World Bank’s Practice Manager Stefano Paternostro, for Social Protection and Jobs for the South Asia region, was held at Planning and Development Complex, Lahore under the chairmanship of Planning and Development Board Chairman Abdullah Khan Sumbal.
The objective of the meeting was to discuss World Bank’s ongoing support to strengthen the federal and provincial governments’ investments in social protection and jobs, government’s strategy and plans; and avenues for future collaboration.
Stefano Paternostro discussed the World Bank’s work on social safety nets, social insurance, labour market and job creation policies in the region. He appreciated the Punjab government’s efforts and showed satisfaction over the progress of projects.
It is pertinent to mention that projects of World Bank targeting Social Protection & Jobs Creation in the province are, Punjab Human Capital Investment Project (PHCIP) cost US$200m which targets to increase the access to quality health services, economic and social inclusion of the poor and vulnerable households in 11 selected districts in Punjab, and Punjab Jobs & Competitiveness Programme (J&C), cost US$100m, to improve the investment climate and promote investments and jobs in more inclusive and sustainable industrial estates in Punjab.
‘Monetary policy: Economics Department of the Government College University (GCU) Lahore organised a seminar titled “Understanding social implications of monetary policy in Pakistan”. GCU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi chaired the seminar which was addressed by Dr Sajid Amin Javed, the Research Fellow at Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI). In his key note address, Dr Sajid Amin said that monetary policy should be treated as the general public policy, and there should not be any political intervention in the business of the State Bank of Pakistan. “The public sector institution should be autonomous which could operate independently through its schemes and policies targeting the public welfare,” he said.
He provided insightful findings about the social implications of the monetary policy of State Bank to the audience comprising of senior faculty and students of the GCU. Dr Sajid highlighted the fact that it was lack of awareness and financial literacy among people that they could not foresee the anchorage expectations of the SBP; therefore, the inflation pressure was increasing day by day. He suggested that the SBP should follow a specific indicator for reporting the inflation rate and emphasised upon the accountability of the designated autonomy to the SBP. Prof Zaidi said that linkages between policy institutes and academic institutions should be encouraged for making students more practical, insightful and research-oriented. He also stressed on changing the approach of conservative teaching in universities towards more dynamic and participatory one.