Uncertain economic and political situation: only 13 percent are hopeful of growth in 2011: Gallup survey

The prevailing uncertain economic and political situation in Pakistan has shattered hopes of the masses to attain economic self-sufficiency, as only 13 percent are optimistic of economic growth in 2011.
"Worst economic recession, lack of economic discipline and good governance are the stumbling block in attaining economic prosperity, as pessimists think that next year will be full of difficulties, led with the figure with 34 percent", said Dr Ijaz Shafi Gilani, Chairman of Gallup Pakistan, while briefing media about the findings of a global survey by Gallup International.
These findings emerged from one of the largest global surveys covering 53 countries from across the globe including all the G7 countries, the four countries of emerging BRIC and another 45 countries from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Australasia. Together a sample of over 64,000, scientifically selected men and women were interviewed by leading pollsters associated with Gallup International.
A key question in the global survey asked: Would you say that 2011 will be a year of economic prosperity, economic difficulty, or remain the same. At a global level, 30 percent of the world expects that 2011 will be a year of prosperity and 28 percent expect it to be a year of economic difficulty, while 42 percent think the economic situation will remain unchanged.
He said that the index of 'Net Hope' in 1990s was very high, as 59 percent people were of the view that they were being ruled by their own representatives. "The index was high in 1999, but declined after military take-over and remained fluctuating from 2000 to 2010", he added. The reasons of despondency of people were many, but Pakistan suffered a serious loss of hope in recent years. This is reflected in both hope about economy and overall well being, he said.
"The wellbeing gap at present is not so big, but it will expand with the passage of time if the situation is not controlled," he said, adding that "more than 60 percent people have expressed their pessimism, saying that the unemployment will be raised in Pakistan during next year as the devastating flood will be the main factor". He said that Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq are being considered as three flashpoints of global turmoil and it is surprising to note that public opinion in both Afghanistan and Iraq is more hopeful than in Pakistan. In Afghanistan, the Net Hope score is +24 percent and in Iraq it is +17 percent, he added.
Comparing Pakistan with India, he said that in India the gap in Net Hope on economy is much bigger than gap in per capita income, and it must be noted that Hope Scores are volatile and can make sharp jumps in short years. This would be true of the mood in India as in the latest survey popular opinion in India shows a Net Hope of + 24 percent. In previous years, India generally scored lower than Pakistan on such measures.
Internationally, the hopefuls outscored the pessimists by 2 percent. That is, the net Global Hope Score. But, like many other good things in life, Hope is also not uniformly spread across the globe. The Greens are, in comparison to the Reds, low on per capita income, but high on Hope. There is also a third group of countries, which are unfortunately low on both per capita income, and Hope for 2011.
The survey shows about 15 percent are in the Green, 14 in the Red, and 20 in the Yellow Box. Fortunately, there are a small number of countries that qualify to be classified as the Purple Group. They are high on both Hope Score and per capita income. These are Scandinavian nations (Sweden, Finland and Denmark) and Switzerland.
The survey also asked a question on 'Fear of unemployment', to which, 45percent of global respondents expressed fear that unemployment might rise in 2011. As opposed to this, 27 percent believed it might fall, while 23 percent expected that the employment conditions would remain unchanged. The remaining 5 percent did not give an answer.