The authorities remain committed to expanding social safety nets, reducing poverty, and narrowing the gender gap. The more benign inflation and exchange rate depreciation paths since program approval have mitigated somewhat the impact on the most vulnerable segments of the population; however, poverty remains a significant concern and there is a large gender gap.
To address these issues, the authorities are undertaking a number of initiatives: an additional one-off disbursement of Rs 1,000 to existing Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) beneficiaries was made in August. The authorities also reported that the BISP's banking contracts were finalized and the financial inclusion strategy for women ("one woman one account") was launched in October (end-October 2019 SB).
The structure of Waseela-e-Taleem (WeT) was modified in October to provide a girl bonus of Rs 250 on a quarterly basis (end-December 2019 SB). A new Mother and Child Nutrition Program was launched under BISP with the aim to bring the stunting rate down from 40 percent to less than 30 percent.
To incentivize enrollment, particularly of girls, quarterly cash stipends of Rs 2,000 for girls and Rs 1,500 for boys up to age two will be provided. The affordable housing programs administered by Ehsaas will be scaled up, with a budget reallocation of Rs 20-30 billion in FY 2020 in order to channel funds directly to Ehsaas beneficiaries and cover the 10 percent down payment on affordable housing.
High poverty and weak social outcomes remain deep-seated challenges, as reflected by Pakistan's ranking 150 out of 189 countries in the UN's Human Development Index. However, the authorities are determined to improve social conditions, and have prioritized policies to support the most vulnerable.