New Delhi, Feb 23 (NationPress) Despite the Pakistan government's assertions of an economic recovery, the stark truth reveals a rise in poverty to a staggering 29 percent, marking an 11-year high and creating income disparities not seen for nearly three decades, as reported by Pakistani media sources.

The Lahore-based publication, The Friday Times, highlights that real household incomes have diminished and unemployment has reached a 21-year high. For countless families, the term "stability" is indistinguishable from hardship.

"This isn’t a contradiction. It encapsulates the central paradox of Pakistan’s economic situation. The nation has stabilized, yet it has not healed," the article elaborated.

The IMF program enforced discipline where domestic politics repeatedly faltered. This led to subsidy reductions, increased energy prices, and tightened monetary policies, which, while slowing the economic decline, have not led to true recovery.

"However, stabilization is not synonymous with recovery. It represents emergency measures, not rehabilitation," the report emphasized.

The piece pointed out that the withdrawal of subsidies and rising indirect taxes do not impact everyone equally; lower-middle-income households, daily wage laborers, and small business owners bear the brunt of these changes. While inflation may now be "contained," the scars of the previous surge remain deeply ingrained in daily existence. Basic necessities such as food, electricity, and fuel have transformed into luxuries, with wages failing to keep pace.

The implications are stark in the poverty statistics: approximately seventy million people are now officially categorized as living below the poverty line. In rural areas, over one-third of the population struggles to fulfill basic needs, with nearly half in Balochistan facing similar challenges. This isn’t mere cyclical discomfort; it signifies a profound structural decline.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has acknowledged that stabilization strategies contributed to the rise in poverty levels. Fiscal tightening and currency depreciation are blunt instruments; they may restore balance sheets but simultaneously burden households, the article noted.

However, blaming the IMF solely overlooks a broader reality. Pakistan’s vulnerabilities predate this program; they are the result of decades of neglect. Successive governments, both civilian and military, have opted for short-term fixes over genuine reform. They have favored the compliant over broadening the tax base, perpetuated inefficiency by subsidizing loss-making state enterprises, and relied on transient consumption surges instead of investing in sustainable export competitiveness, the article lamented.