Ahsan Iqbal: poverty climbs to 28.9% after 2018 setback
The planning minister told an Islamabad forum that gains from the mid-2010s reversed as instability, shocks and thinner development spending raised the national poverty rate.
Ahsan Iqbal said the national poverty rate rose to 28.9% in 2024-25 from 21.9% in 2018-19.
He said mid-2010s progress under Vision 2025 later stalled amid instability, COVID-19, floods and near-default pressures in 2022.
Federal development outlays stayed near Rs1 trillion for 2026-27, versus Rs1,001 billion and a 19.6% budget share in 2017-18.
He backed a National Multidimensional Poverty Index update for 2027 with Oxford partners and the statistics bureau.
He urged fuller devolution, stronger local governments and linking URAAN Pakistan to human-development results.