Planning Minister calls for higher development investment, stronger local governments and a new National Multidimensional Poverty Index to reverse rising poverty and address regional inequalities.
ISLAMABAD, October 28, 2026: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal has said Pakistan’s poverty reduction progress suffered a significant setback after 2018, with the poverty rate increasing to 28.9% in 2024-25 from 21.9% in 2018-19.
Addressing an event titled Pathways to a Poverty-Free Pakistan: Advancing Multidimensional Poverty Measurement for Evidence-Based Policy and Action, the minister attributed the reversal to political instability, economic crises, policy discontinuity and climate-related disasters.
He called for evidence-based policymaking, targeted public investment and sustainable measures to reduce poverty.
Ahsan Iqbal said monetary poverty had declined from 29.5% in 2013-14 to 24.3% in 2015-16 during the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government’s 2013-18 tenure, when economic growth and human development were major priorities under Vision 2025.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic, devastating floods, macroeconomic pressures and political uncertainty had undermined these gains. He stressed that political stability, sustained economic growth and policy continuity were essential to reversing the trend.
Development spending under pressure
The minister said the federal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) stood at Rs1,001 billion in 2017-18, representing 19.6% of the federal budget and 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP). The allocation for 2026-27 remained around Rs1 trillion in nominal terms.
He argued that maintaining the 2017-18 share of the federal budget would have raised the current development programme to more than Rs3 trillion. Limited investment, he warned, was affecting education, healthcare, water security, infrastructure and skills development, particularly in disadvantaged regions.
He also called for effective implementation of the 18th Constitutional Amendment and Article 140A, urging provinces to transfer political, administrative and financial authority to elected local governments.
Pakistan plans National MPI 2027
Recalling Pakistan’s collaboration with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Programme, Ahsan Iqbal said the country launched its first National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) in 2016.
The index measures overlapping disadvantages in education, health and living standards. Its findings helped identify 20 of Pakistan’s poorest districts, including 11 in Balochistan, five in Sindh, three in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one in Punjab.
The government plans to develop the National MPI 2027 with OPHI, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) and development partners, using data from the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey 2026-27.
The updated index is expected to examine climate vulnerability, gender inequality, digital exclusion, nutrition, childhood development, insecurity and migration.
The government also intends to explore poverty analysis at national and provincial assembly constituency levels to help elected representatives identify local development gaps and improve accountability.
Ahsan Iqbal urged the Planning Commission, PBS, Benazir Income Support Programme, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics and provincial authorities to integrate poverty data into development planning and social protection.
He said Pakistan’s URAAN Pakistan agenda must combine macroeconomic stability with sustained investment in human development, adding that progress should be measured through tangible improvements in education, healthcare and livelihoods.