Pakistan’s cash programme instrumental in mitigating COVID-19 impact: WB

ISLAMABAD: The World Bank (WB) on Tuesday said that Pakistan’s emergency cash programme would be instrumental in mitigating the impact of the economy due to coronavirus.

“Cash transfers will be instrumental in mitigating the impact of the upcoming recession by ensuring that consumption by the poorest and vulnerable contributes to the local economies,” the WB said in an article published on its website.

It suggested that if the fiscal space allows to the government, the emergency cash transfers should be considered as an optimal option to rejuvenate local economies.

Last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced the country’s biggest ever Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme worth of Rs144 billion to disburse Rs12,000 each to around 12 million beneficiaries who were mostly affected by the worst economic impact of COVID-19.

At a time when cash transfer programmes are the most widely used instruments to counter the socioeconomic fallout from the pandemic, the case of Pakistan provides a good insight to others, the article added.

“No doubt this response is one of the best investments that a government could make in a crisis. The cash transfers provide purchasing power for people to meet their needs. Nearly 24 per cent of Pakistan’s 210 million people are below the poverty line. The country requires a rapid response to protect its poor from becoming even worse off. The national lockdown imposed on March 13 is a necessary pre-emptive step to contain the health emergency. But it compounds socioeconomic risks for the vulnerable who have lost their jobs or cannot access health and social programmes,” the article read.

“In addition, the pandemic puts women, who are already disadvantaged in the labor force, at greater risk as they carry the invisible burden of caring for the sick, elderly, and children. One of Pakistan’s initial measures, with support from the WB, was to expand its national safety net institution, the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), to direct additional support to its 4.5 million women beneficiaries,” it added.

It stated that the government also scaled up its flagship cash transfer program, Ehsaas Kafalat, to include 7.5 million additional vulnerable families affected by the crisis — thus increasing by 85 per cent its annual budget dedicated to cash transfers.

“Pakistan’s quick action was possible because the country has invested in programs like BISP and Ehsaas Kafalat which form one of South Asia’s largest social safety net systems,” the article read.

“They provide quick registration options and reliable payments through state-of-the-art biometric technology. Their online linkage to the national ID database helps prevent duplicate payments while ensuring transparency,” it added.

The article stated that while these investments have achieved results, there is room for further improvement.

“A move towards a dynamic system for updating the National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER) and integration among social program databases will help keep targeting data current and ensure a two-way flow of information,” it stated.

“Besides avoiding duplication of effort, a centralised and integrated social registry would also provide data for informed decisions regarding socio-economic policies and initiatives,” it added.

“Along with this, the governments (federal and provincial) need to expand the primary education and children health-related conditional cash transfers to integrate aspects of long-term human development and reduction of inter-generational poverty,” it further stated.