UNDP warns of growing gap between economic stability, human development in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: United Nations Development Programme’s Resident Representative Dr Samuel Rizk on Friday stated that there were two types of Pakistan, as one side was showing macroeconomic stability, while on the other hand, the social and human development indicators were worsening.

“There are two tales of Pakistan’s story, as on one side there is macroeconomic stability, but on the other hand, the social and human development indicators are worsening and posing serious challenges,” the UNDP’s Resident Representative in Pakistan stated bluntly during the SDPI conference here on Friday.

The UNDP’s Resident Chief also stated that the Civil Service Reforms would be implemented soon. He said that the biggest lessons learnt from the latest floods in 2025 were that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) possessed all kinds of data just like NASA, but coordination lacked for execution in an effective manner, exposing governance challenges.

He said that Pakistan was receiving $14 billion from all multilaterals, including the IMF, WB, ADB, and others, including the IFC, on a per annum basis, but its requirement stood at 15 to 17 per cent of GDP, having an annual estimated requirement of $50 billion for achieving sustainable development goals. It cannot be materialised without the co-blending of financing needs, he added. He said that the EU delegation would soon be visiting Pakistan to review the GSP+, whereby Pakistan would have to show compliance with 27 conventions.

The IMF’s Resident Representative in Pakistan, Chief Mahir Binci, stated that Pakistan was facing challenges of revenue mobilisation and energy sector losses, which are hampering growth in exports. He said that the IMF wanted to have fiscal and export buffers by the end of the ongoing Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and Resilience Sustainability Fund (RSF) programmes by 2027. The tax-to-GDP ratio, he said, should have gone up to 15 per cent in accordance with the IMF assessment, but it might go up to 13pc by 2027.

The IMF’s representative highlighted Pakistan’s weak energy sector, poor institutional reforms, weak governance, low exports, an unfriendly business climate, and a narrow tax base as serious challenges holding back economic stability and growth.

The World Bank’s Country Director for Pakistan, Ms Bolormaa Amgabazar, stated that Pakistan was losing 20pc of its GDP by 2030, mainly because of climate change and natural disasters. She said that if Bangladesh could curb population growth, why was Pakistan lagging? She also highlighted stunting, standing at 40pc among children in Pakistan, causing an increased number of learning poverty.

She said recent floods caused losses of $2.9 billion while the 2022 floods alone inflicted damages of $30 billion, placing Pakistan among the most climate-affected countries. She said both the federation and provinces need to take immediate steps to deal with climate change.

The climate shocks, the WB says, will continue to hit Pakistan if action is delayed, as the country is already facing aftershocks of environmental disasters. She cited the example of Lahore, where air pollution has become hazardous for human life.