'Stabilisation policies driving poverty'

Economic experts said on Monday that repeated stabilisation measures, including currency adjustments, privatisation and liberalisation, have reshaped Pakistan's economy while adding to poverty. Speaking at the opening of the eighth International Conference on Applied Development Economics in Lahore, LSE Rector Dr Shahid Chaudhry said national development needs keep government spending high. He added that government-run health and social protection schemes highlight how hard it is to strengthen public welfare.

LSE Dean of the Economics Faculty Dr Azam Chaudhry said growth has increasingly hit a ceiling because exports remain limited. He pointed to weak investment by local firms as a central cause of the stagnation, linking it to information gaps, credit shortages and coordination breakdowns. These hurdles keep domestic companies from expanding and competing abroad.

Further presentations examined human capital, social change and labour migration. University of Michigan Professor Dean Yang said remittances act as a financial cushion for vulnerable families during shocks, while non-migrant households often send members abroad to cope. World Bank economist Kate Vyborny reported that digitising land records in Punjab raised the proportion of women inheriting family land from 13% to 22%. The event spans August 17 to 19, 2026, and is hosted by CREB and ITC at LSE.