At least 10 million Pakistanis will be living below the poverty line due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Nearly one in four Pakistanis are currently too poor to obtain basic necessities, but that number is expected to rise to around 30 per cent of the world’s sixth-largest country. The outbreak of COVID-19 is expected to have a negative impact on Pakistan’s economy, and the number of people living below the poverty line may

increase from the current 50 million to 60 million people, according to a study. The government’s annual Economic Survey for 2019 to 2020 also warned that the economy would be the lowest for the first time in 68 years. Pakistan was already experiencing an economic crisis before the pandemic hit. A drop in tariffs is expected to add to the financial crisis. Furthermore, the economic survey estimated the number of jobs lost to coronavirus will vary from 1.4m to 18.5 million if the country’s businesses are widely shuttered.

SARFRAZ SOOMRO,

Shikarpur.