Finance ministry rejects reports of hike in unemployment rate

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Finance has rejected claims about a rise in unemployment rate that experts say can be as high as eight per cent this year due to the prevailing economic conditions, reported The News on Saturday.

Reports in local media had earlier this week claimed that the economic policies of the government had resulted in loss of almost one million jobs, a 24% hike in the prices of food items, and further addition of 10 million people to those falling under the poverty line.

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“These claims made without any corroborating evidence about the expected loss of jobs and higher unemployment rate are not based on facts since the latest labour force survey is not published yet," the Finance Division said in a statement to the press.

"A true picture would emerge only after the latest facts and figures are available after their publication by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS),” the statement said. 

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The Ministry of Finance also stressed that the economic condition was only improving with each passing day and the payoff from ongoing stabilisation efforts had already become visible in the form of improvement in key economic indicators. 

"The current account deficit reduced by 72% during July-January FY2020, workers remittances increased by 4.1%, foreign direct investment (FDI) grew by 65.7 per cent, exports increased by 3.6% (provisional) during Jul-Feb, FY2020," the finance division noted.

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"The fiscal deficit was contained at 2.3% during Jul-Dec FY2020, and significant rise recorded in FBR tax revenues to Rs.2,731 billion (17.1%) during Jul-Feb FY2020. All of the above development is an affirmation of the government’s success in stabilising the economy," it added.

Similarly, the claim of losing jobs and expected higher unemployment rate is also not based on facts as the latest labour force survey is not published yet. Latest facts and figures would be available after its publication by PBS. 

Originally published in The News