48pc Pakistanis optimistic about improvement in economy: survey

ISLAMABAD: According to a latest survey conducted by Gallup Pakistan, 48 percent Pakistanis are looking forward to 2021 as the year of economic prosperity despite the economic difficulties caused by coronavirus pandemic and other difficulties.

The survey, participated by over 1,000 respondents between October 09 to November 02, 2020 , shows that 30 percent Pakistanis believe the economic situation will deteriorate further, while 12 percent respondents said the situation will remain the same.

According to the survey, the net score of those confident about good future prospects of Pakistani economy is 18 percent. When the PPP government came to power, the net score was at -38 percent. Some improvement was witnessed in 2009,but the net score was still at -8 percent. The net score remained -21 in 2010 and -13 in 2011. However, when the PML-N came into power, the net score increased to 47 percent in 2014 and 50 percent in 2015. However, it is reducing since then and in 2020 it stands at 18 percent.

The survey shows that Pakistan’s score is much better than the global average score which stands at -21 percent. If the net score of Pakistan is compared to the collective opinion of 46 countries, then the survey shows that 25 percent people on global level are confident about improvement in economic situation, while 46 percent said it is likely to deteriorate further, and 24 percent people said the situation will remain the same.

In India, 56 percent people are hopeful about better economic situation in 2021, while the ratio is 23 percent in Afghanistan. In the Economic Optimism Index, Nigeria is the is the country where people are most hopeful (72 percent) about future prospects of economic situation. The people of UK were seen the most pessimistic about economy at -71 percent.