Middle Class Erodes As Pak Govt Feeds 'Paper Growth' Sectors To Favour The Rich: Report

(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, Jan 10 (IANS) The government in Pakistan is actively feeding 'paper growth' sectors that may bring some GDP growth but do not stimulate commercial investment -- like real estate where the rich park their wealth and let it grow, according to a new report.

Since 2019, the poorest 20 per cent of Pakistani households have seen their real monthly incomes plunge by nearly 12 per cent, said the Editorial in The Express Tribune.

“In contrast, the wealthiest quintile enjoyed a 7 per cent increase, which may not seem high till we consider that they were making all that money when the economy was in freefall, average wages outside the public sector were declining, and poverty shot up,” the report mentioned.

The fact is that savings have been nearly wiped out for most, collapsing by 66 per cent overall, as families deplete their reserves just to afford essentials.

“Consequently, spending on health and education has fallen by a staggering 19 per cent, which does not bode well for the future,” the report lamented.

The Editorial further says that beneath the headline growth and booming stock market is a devastating "K-shaped" recovery that is enriching the affluent while crushing the poor and hollowing out the middle class.

The result is an economy where luxury car sales and the stock market are at record highs, while demand for cement and mass-market goods is languishing.

Another recent report by The Express Tribune revealed that with Pakistani households forced to spend nearly two-thirds of their income on food and electricity, the economy has ceased to be about growth and has become one of survival.

Citing the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics' latest Household Integrated Economic Survey, it revealed that life in Pakistan has increasingly become a matter of basic survival.

The report noted that the shrinking purchasing power of the Pakistani rupee is reflected in what households can no longer afford. According to the report, this is not resilience, but fragility disguised as coping.

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