The Existing Poverty Situation

Poverty in a contemporary developing country has both national and international dimensions. In the national context, it is linked with the inability of some sections of population to meet a certain subsistence or threshold level consumption expenditure. I call it national because the reference point against which poverty is measured is purely national and is determined within the framework of national norms of consumption and prices. It can equally be called consumption poverty. In the international context, poverty is viewed in a broader perspective of overall development measured by a set of social indicators, in comparison to some other, relatively better-off, country or a group of countries. The paper attempts to examine the existing poverty situation in Pakistan in respect of both the dimensions, as well as to provide an overview of the existing poverty alleviation polices.

Dr. M. Shaukat Ali

Source: Poverty Alleviation in Pakistan: Present Scenario and Future Strategy, Mohibul Haq Sahibzada. Republished with permission.