The unemployment rate in Pakistan has risen to 10.3 percent, Finance Secretary Chaudhry Imdad Ullah Bosal told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance on Thursday.
Briefing the panel alongside Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, the Secretary Finance said the World Bank reports the unemployment rate at 10.3 percent, while the International Labor Organization places it at 8.2 percent for 2024.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) sees the rate at 8 percent. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Labor Force Survey last measured the unemployment rate at 6.3 percent in 2020-21. The secretary informed the panel that a fresh Pakistan Labor Force Survey hasn’t been conducted due to last year’s census.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told the committee that a staff-level agreement with the IMF will likely be reached by the end of this month. The new program will last up to 36-39 months.
He also assured that the Pakistani Rupee would remain stable in the coming days.
Aurangzeb said the government was expecting a slight increase in inflation in the coming months but at the same time saw the possibility of reduced interest rates in the same period.
The finance minister noted that while the current account deficit has stabilized, it still requires attention. He assured that stabilization policies would continue to be implemented throughout fiscal year 2024-25.
