4.5m workers jobless in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: According to the Economic Survey, the population of Pakistan in 2022 had exceeded 2292 million. According to the Labour Force Survey 2020-21, the country has over 70 million laborers, of which 67 million are employed, while 4.6 million are unemployed. Thus, the unemployment rate is 6.3%.

According to the Bureau of Immigration and Overseas Employment, during the year 2022, 829,500 Pakistanis went abroad for employment and in 2020-21, about 286,648 workers went abroad for employment. Till March 2023, the government has distributed Rs6.97 billion under the Prime Minister’s Youth Business and Agriculture Loan.

During the first 9 months of this financial year, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) distributed more than 2 million mosquito nets, 7,000 hygiene kits and 126,000 packets of food, 18,800 first aid kits and other equipment.

According to report of flood devastations, many health centers and hospitals were severely damaged by the floods of August 2022. The government is determined to restore the affected health centers. According to the report on flood disasters, $187.6 million are required for the reconstruction of these centers. The government has accelerated the pace of work on ongoing projects under the PSDP to create a wide network of laboratories under an integrated system.