4 of 5 Pakistanis think country headed in wrong direction; Survey exposes Imran Khan govt

According to the latest survey by research company IPSOS, four out of every five persons in PM Imran Khan-led Pakistan view that the country is headed in the wrong direction. Citing the report that was released on Tuesday, The News International reported that only 23% of people believe that the country is moving towards the right direction and 77% believe otherwise. More than 1,000 people from all over the country participated in the survey which was conducted between December 1 and December 6, 2020.

14% Pakistanis fear losing jobs in the next 6 months

In 2019, in the fourth quarter, 21% of people believed that the country was headed on the right track, while 79% had a contrasting opinion. This year, 36% of people said that their current personal financial situation is weak, 13% characterised it as strong and 51% said it is neither strong nor weak, The News International said. Meanwhile, on province-wise assessment, the report found that a "poor financial situation" featured in almost all the provinces and inflation ranked number 1 among the list of top 4 contributors to the desperate situation.

"In Sindh, the second-highest contributor was viewed to be unemployment (20%), followed by COVID-19 (17%) and poverty (16%). In Punjab, 23% people felt the province's poor financial situation stems from unemployment, 8% thought it was due to COVID-19 and 14% believed poverty has a role," The News International said.

Meanwhile, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa about 18% believed unemployment, 12% viewed coronavirus and 8% called poverty as the reason behind the province's financial situation. Similarly, in Balochistan about 25% responded by blaming unemployment, a mere 2% felt COVID-19 played a role, and 25% felt it was poverty that has led to the province's dismal state of financial affairs, said Pakistani media outlet citing the research report.

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According to the survey, 14% of Pakistanis fear they will lose their job in the next six months. No improvement has been noted in the grim investment environment. In comparison to one year ago, nine out of 10 Pakistanis are feeling less comfortable while purchasing general household items as well as major ones like cars, homes etc, the report said. Meanwhile, the fearful Imran Khan government is busy registering cases against the Opposition who has given the Prime Minister an ultimatum to resign from his post or face long march on Islamabad.

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(With agency inputs)