Islamabad, 31st of January, 2022: Parliamentary Leader of the PPP in the Senate, Senator Sherry Rehman put forward a Motion 218 on unemployment and said, “Unemployment is one of the most urgent issues in the country, along with inflation, food insecurity and poverty. Unfortunately, due to the policies of the party that promised 10 million jobs, Pakistan now has unprecedented levels of unemployment, which are in fact exacerbating the rates of poverty, food insecurity and crime within the country. According to the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), three years ago the rate of unemployment was 6% but now stands at a whopping 16%, which is a statistic of shame for the country and has resulted in horrible living conditions for the people of Pakistan. This is an extremely worrying issue that must be addressed without political point-scoring and requires a resolute consensus to improve the lives of hard-working people and state of the economy.”
The Senator continued, “Citing Covid-19 is no longer an explicable reason for the unemployment crisis. Regional countries have also seen a rise in unemployment, but the magnitude does not even compare to the double-digit statistic that we are faced with here. Pakistan’s unemployment stands at a whopping 16%, whereas in India it is 7.9%, and in Bangladesh, it is at 5%, whilst the global average hovers at 5.7%.”
She said, “The performance of the government, despite their promise of 10 million jobs in their manifesto, has led to thousands of people being sacked from the public sector including around 15,000 from Pakistan Steel Mill, thousands from PIA, 300 from PTDC, over 700 from Radio Pakistan and hundreds from all other areas of the public sector. The jobs that once used to be reliable and allowed hard-working Pakistani women and men to live a comfortable life have become increasingly volatile under this government.”
Speaking on the rising graph of unemployment in the country in a perilous inflationary environment, she said, “The disastrous policies of this government have not only led to a downturn in jobs but created a completely inconducive environment for job growth, which is badly needed in a country with a 65 % youth cohort under 30 years of age. Both the manufacturing and agricultural sector have been badly impacted by serial neglect in actual policies and economic equity.
In the urban centres, high-interest rates of 9.75%, has brought the manufacturing sector to its knees which has ended up downsizing employees and painful job cuts. Furthermore, the Rupee slide, which has devalued by over 13% this financial year alone, has led to a skyrocketing import bill and dangerously high Current Account deficit and Trade deficit – all of which have worsened the state of the country for business development and economic growth. The government has failed to generate sustainable domestic income and the government is running its high expenditures literally on loans and incomes from overseas Pakistanis. Manufacturing within the industry is down due to high-interest rates and PKR devaluation and it is becoming harder and harder to sell exports with the value of our currency.”
She said, “Imports are high because of petroleum, but also due to the imports of staples, such as wheat, rice and sugar – Pakistan used to be self-sufficient in these products during the time of the PPP. There is rampant unemployment in both the urban and agricultural sectors due to price hikes. Under the PTI government, tax exemptions for urea, seeds, and agricultural machinery have been lifted only to unveil an agricultural economy that can no longer stand on its own two feet. If we look at our neighbours in India, the Farmer’s act created an uprising from the farmers in the country and protests that lasted for over a year; yet their unemployment rate and poverty rates remain far lower than ours. Poverty in Pakistan is at 40% whereas in India is 7% according to the World Bank.”
The Senator said, “The youth and women are at the forefront of suffering due to this crisis, 64% of Pakistanis are less than 30 years of age and millions of youths enter the job market every year. According to the UNDP, over 1.3 million extra jobs are needed to keep up with the youth population boom, whereas now over 24% of educated people are currently unemployed. A lack of career prospects and desperation is a well-known gateway to radicalisation, which poses a threat to Pakistan’s national security. Pakistan needs training programmes and education centres. Additionally, women continue to face high levels of unemployment as 40% of educated women are currently unemployed and the gender pay gap remains at an abysmal 34% – the highest in the world.”
She said, “We need to acknowledge that Pakistan is currently en route to real water scarcity by 2025, which means that arable land in Sindh and Balochistan will suffer from low agricultural output in coming years due to poor soil quality and low water supply. This will lead to even higher rates of unemployment and water rationing will become the norm as it has in Cape Town.”
She concluded by saying, “We need to consider all these factors when discussing unemployment. This is not just a statistic but a reflection of the quality of life and livelihood within the country. It continues to have a close cause-and-effect relationship by issues of climate change, terrorism, population boom and women’s empowerment and must not be taken lightly. To be clear, this is not a political issue, it is a human rights issue and requires concerted policy action and cooperation to pull out the vulnerable population in Pakistan of this deepening dark alley of despair.”