Targeted cash transfers: Pakistan met indicative target through BISP: IMF review

Pakistan has met the indicative target on targeted cash transfers through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) as the coverage of the unconditional cash transfer programme for the poorest households has been extended and remains on track to reach 5.36 million beneficiaries by end-June 2016.
The final Staff review prepared by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Extended Fund Facility for its Executive Board consideration commended continued progress in protecting the most vulnerable through BISP. The review notes that the indicative target on targeted cash transfers through the BISP was met with a significant margin, reflecting higher stipends and further expansion of coverage, while capital expenditure increased by about 0.5 percent of GDP, and targeted cash transfers to the poor under the BISP were increased by about 0.1 percent of GDP.
The coverage of unconditional cash transfers (UCTs) has expanded markedly during the IMF-supported programme, reaching 5.36 million beneficiaries at end-June 2016 (from 3.78 million beneficiaries in Fiscal Year 2012/13) and stipends have been increased by more than 60 percent, the review adds.
The coverage of education-conditional cash transfers (CCTs) has also continued to expand, reaching 1.3 million children. However the review acknowledges that the impact of conditional cash transfers on education remains more limited since the size of the transfer is low compared to the cost of schooling. The impact evaluation analysis indicates that unconditional cash transfers contribute to reduced poverty among BISP beneficiaries (20 percent reduction in the proportion of beneficiaries living below the poverty line from 2011 to 2014 in the sample) and strengthen women's empowerment by providing the cash transfer to any ever-married woman in a BISP-eligible household.
The government in its Letter of Intent, a prerequisite for Board consideration for the release of a tranche, maintained that it is piloting a biometrics-based transaction system to reduce the possibility for fraud and would update the BISP beneficiaries' database (National Socio Economic Registry) by mid-2018 to strengthen the programme's targeting. The government also committed to extending coverage of the conditional cash transfers to 1.6 million children in Fiscal Year 2016/17.