Most Pakistanis believe country headed in wrong direction- Suvey

In Pakistan, 77 per cent people view that the country is headed in the wrong direction and  only 23 per cent people believe that the country is moving towards the right direction. According to the latest survey by research company IPSOS, More than 1,000 people from all over the country participated in the survey which was conducted between December 1 and December 6, 2020. IPSOS is a France based organisation. “Looking ahead six months from now, 4 in 5 Pakistanis foresee the economy getting deteriorated,” the survey said, adding that two in five Pakistanis considered their personal financial situation as weak while over 50pc Pakistanis expected this to be even weaker in the next six months.

Last year, in the fourth quarter, 21 per cent people believed that the country was headed on the right track, while 79 per cent had a contrasting opinion. This year, 36 per cent people said that their current personal financial situation is weak, 13 per cent characterised it as strong and 51 per cent said it is neither strong nor weak, The News International said. Meanwhile, the last year’s data show that 38 per cent believed that their financial situation is weak, 5 per cent viewed it as strong and 57 per cent put it in between.

The report found that a “poor financial situation” featured in almost all the provinces and inflation ranked number 1 among the list of top 4 contributors to the desperate situation. “In Sindh, the second-highest contributor was viewed to be unemployment (20 per cent), followed by Covid-19 (17 per cent) and poverty (16 per cent). In Punjab, 23 per cent people felt the province’s poor financial situation stems from unemployment, 8 per cent thought it was due to Covid-19 and 14 per cent believed poverty has a role,” The News International said.

Meanwhile, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa about 18 per cent believed unemployment, 12 per cent viewed coronavirus and 8 per cent called poverty as the reason behind the province’s financial situation. Similarly, in Balochistan about 25 per cent responded by blaming unemployment, a mere 2 per cent felt Covid-19 played a role, and 25 per cent felt it was poverty that has led to the province’s dismal state of financial affairs, said Pakistani media outlet citing the research report.