Pakistan faces debt crisis as its top risk followed by cyber security failure: WEF report

The "Global Risks Report 2022" has listed as many as five risks confronting Pakistan with the top risk being the debt crisis. The other risks include failure of cyber security measures, failure to stabilise price trajectories, extreme weather events, and human-made environmental damage. On Tuesday, 12 January, the World Economic Forum (WEF) released a report that details the top five risks for each of the 124 countries surveyed by the forum's Executive Opinion Survey, Pakistani news outlet Dawn reported. The survey was conducted between May and September 2021. 

The "Risk 1" represents the most often identified risk in each country, according to the WEF report. Meanwhile, the emerging risks include growing commodity prices, inflation, and debt. Furthermore, the pandemic continues to choke countries' ability to allow a durable recovery, the report claimed. The economic issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic continue to linger, and the outlook remains bleak, with the world economy estimated to be 2.3% weaker by 2024 than it would have been if the pandemic would not have struck, the report stated. 

Climate change is the top long-term risk globally

As the world approaches the third year of the pandemic, climate risks have taken centre stage globally. While climate change is the top long-term risk, societal differences, livelihood difficulties, and mental health deterioration are among the top short-term global worries, according to the report. Furthermore, most experts think that over the next three years, the global economic recovery will be fragile and uneven. The economic consequences due to the pandemic are being compounded by labour market imbalances, protectionism, and rising digital, education, and skills disparities, all of which threaten to split the world into disparate trajectories. 

World leaders must come together to address global issues: WEF

According to the WEF report, mounting insecurity as a result of economic hardship, the worsening effects of climate change, and political unrest are prompting millions of people to flee their homes in pursuit of a brighter future abroad. For respondents to the Global Risks Perception Survey, "involuntary migration" is a top long-term concern. A high 60% of them believe that "migration and refugees" is an issue where international mitigation efforts are yet to begin or are in the early stages of development. "To address relentless global issues and build resilience ahead of the next crisis, world leaders must come together and embrace a coordinated multi-stakeholder strategy," Saadia Zahidi, WEF Managing Director, stated as per Dawn.