Pakistan faces challenges to expand public services as Oxfam warns of rising inequality in Asia

Profit by Pakistan Today reported, citing an Oxfam study, that Pakistan faces growing hurdles in delivering health, education and social protection as Asian governments underfund these services. Households across the region meet almost 38% of healthcare costs from their own pockets, nearly double the OECD average. Oxfam argues that more public investment in these areas is important for reducing inequality in South Asia.

Asian governments put an average 9.4% of GDP into social protection, under half the global average of 19.3%, while public education outlays average 2.9% of GDP against a 4 to 6% benchmark. Social protection reaches only 30% of the population in South Asia against 86% in East Asia, and in the region's most heavily indebted economies, debt servicing absorbs between seven and 25 times the amount spent on social protection.

Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International's executive director, argued that public services are among the strongest tools for narrowing inequality, yet many Asian budgets are shifting money toward debt repayments. The report cites a 25% gap in mobile internet use between women and men across South Asia, leaving about 330 million women without mobile internet access as services move online. Oxfam urges governments to set time-bound plans, lift health and education spending to at least 15% of budgets, and scrap user fees for essential services.