Rising unemployment in Pakistan: 27.6% more people seeking jobs overseas
Amid rising unemployment in Pakistan, the number of people seeking jobs abroad has increased by 27.6% in 2021 compared to the previous year.
Covid-19 pandemic aggravated the ever increasing unemployment problem in Pakistan even more.
Pakistan's Bureau of Emigration Overseas Employment (BEOE) registered 2,86,648 workers for overseas employment in 2021, which is 27.6% higher than 2020, reported Dawn.
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Among the main destinations for unskilled migrant workers are the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar.
A total of 54% of Pakistani sought to move to Saudi Arabia, 13.4% to Oman and 13.2% to Qatar.
Punjab province had the most workers go abroad, with 1,56,877, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 76,213 individuals, as per the media portal.
Also, 43% of respondents of a survey of the Institute of Public Opinion and Research (IPOR) slammed the three-year rule by former Prime Minister Imran Khan-led government for its inability to control inflation and for the country's debilitating economy.
The World Bank in its recent "Pakistan Development Update" has highlighted the structural weaknesses of Pakistan's economy which include low investment, low exports, and a low productivity growth cycle, reports India's Business Standard.
Further, high domestic demand pressures and rising global commodity prices would lead to double-digit inflation in the country.
Moreover, the growth momentum is not expected to pick up in Pakistan in the near future as a sharp spike in the import bill would also impact the Pakistani Rupee adversely, as per local media.
The World Bank report cites the financial sector's inadequacy as one of the reasons for this low growth. According to the Standard and Poor's Ratings Global Financial Literacy Survey 2015 (S & P Global FinLit Survey), only 26% of the adults in Pakistan are financially literate. Thus, limited financial literacy in Pakistan is concerning for the investors as it has exacerbated the informality challenge in the country.
