BISP, World Bank discuss data security
Listen to article
The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and the World Bank have agreed to deepen collaboration to strengthen data security, transparency, and operational reforms in Pakistan's social protection systems.
The decision was made during a meeting between BISP Chairperson Senator Rubina Khalid and World Bank Lead Economist Melis U Guven at BISP Headquarters. The two sides discussed strategies to improve data sharing practices, ensure cyber safety, and implement structural improvements in welfare delivery.
Khalid called for a national-level workshop to raise awareness among provincial stakeholders about cybersecurity risks and the importance of responsible data sharing. "After NADRA, BISP maintains the second-largest household data repository in Pakistan through the National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER)," she said. "There is now a pressing need to centralise this data to enhance its use in development planning."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Express Tribune
WB readjusts poverty line in Pakistan at 44.7%
Listen to article The World Bank has adjusted upward the income levels in an effort to measure global poverty, which has also pushed the percentage of Pakistanis living in poverty by to 44.7% — an outcome that may not still be fully reflecting the harsh ground realities due to the use of seven years old survey data. The Washington-based lender on Thursday released its new international poverty line to reflect changes in the prices of goods and services and their implications on the global population. The new poverty line for Pakistan, which is a lower middle-income country, is set at $4.20 per person per day, up from $3.65, said Christina Wieser, the senior poverty economist of the World Bank while briefing the media persons here. She said that due to the upward revision, for the lower middle income level, the poverty ratio has jumped from 39.8% of the old level to 44.7% on the threshold of $4.20 per day income. The World Bank has also updated the extreme poverty line from $2.15 to $3 per person per day. Because of the revision in the threshold, 16.5% of the Pakistani population lives in extreme poverty, up from 4.9% under the previous $2.15 threshold, said Christina. She said that one of the reasons for such a high jump was that the majority of the people were clustered around $2.15 to $3 per day income level, which resulted into a significant surge. About 82% of this increase in extreme poverty is due to the higher value of the new international poverty line reflecting increases in the national poverty lines of comparator countries, with the rest explained by price increases in Pakistan between 2017 and 2021, according to the World Bank. The World Bank has not used the latest population census data and instead relied on the United Nations population dataset. Christina also added that the underlying Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2018/19 data has been used for both national and international estimates. While international poverty lines are essential for tracking global progress and comparisons, national lines remain more appropriate for informing country-specific policy decisions, said the senior economist. Anything that has affected since 2019 is not included in either Covid-19 or 2022 floods, as the baseline remains the same, said Christina while responding to a question. We are desperately looking forward to the new household integrated economic survey to update our baseline, she added. The local economists had estimated a sharp rise in poverty after the 2022 floods, which inundated one-fourth of the country and adversely impacted populations in three provinces. These updates to the international poverty lines ensure that poverty estimates remain accurate and comparable across countries. The methodology remains consistent with past updates, continuing a practice that began with the introduction of the dollar-a-day line in 1990, according to the World Bank economist. "The revisions help position Pakistan's poverty levels in a global context and underscore the importance of continued efforts to reduce vulnerability and improve resilience," said Najy Benhassine, the outgoing World Bank Country Director for Pakistan. For domestic policy and programme targeting, the national poverty line remains unchanged and continues to serve as the primary benchmark for assessing poverty within Pakistan, Christina said. The forthcoming World Bank Poverty, Equity, and Resilience Assessment for Pakistan will provide critical context for interpreting these updated poverty estimates, she added. The report would offer a detailed update on poverty, inequality, and non-monetary outcomes, will investigate key drivers of poverty, and outline a forward-looking agenda to enhance prosperity and resilience for all Pakistanis. According to the government's last official available numbers, which are based on the 2018-19 survey, 21.9% of the population was living below the national poverty line. However, because national poverty lines differ widely, the resulting poverty rates are not comparable internationally. The need for new international poverty lines arises from the evolving price levels and cost of basic needs across the world and within income groups, according to Christina Wieser. To maintain accurate global comparisons, the World Bank periodically updates these poverty lines. International poverty estimates are based on the headcount of people with consumption below the international poverty line, defined in purchasing power parities (PPPs). Pakistan is among the countries experiencing the largest changes in poverty when transitioning to the 2021 PPPs based on the Low-Income International Poverty Line, according to the World Bank. The World Bank said that the international poverty line should be used only for cross-country comparison and analysis; for evaluating poverty in a particular country (Pakistan), the national poverty line remains the appropriate standard. The revisions help position Pakistan's poverty levels in a global context and underscore the importance of continued efforts to reduce vulnerability and improve resilience, The new figures reflect updated international thresholds and improved data from other countries, not deterioration in living standards, according to Christina.
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Express Tribune
India paving ground for N-war: Bilawal
Listen to article Former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday said India is laying the ground for the first nuclear war over water by disrupting the supply of the precious resource and disregarding the World Bank-brokered Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan. Addressing the Middle East Institute in Washington, Bilawal, who is also chairman of the Pakistan People's Party, said India shutting off Pakistan's water supply is laying the foundation for the first nuclear war over water. "We have declared that cutting off our water supply would be an act of war," he added. The PPP chairman said, "We don't say it in a jingoistic manner. We don't say it with any relish. It is an existential crisis for us. Any country on the planet, no matter their size, their strength or their ability, would fight for their survival and fight for their water." He asserted that India must abide by the IWT and the US and other countries must take a firm stance to not allow it to violate the treaty. "You cannot allow this precedent to be set in the Pakistan context, because we'll fight the first war, but it won't be the last. If India is allowed to stop our water, every upper riparian with hostilities to a lower riparian will have a carte blanche," Bilawal highlighted. "And if our dialogue and diplomacy in pursuit of peace are to be successful, if we are to talk to India, have a positive dialogue with India, make new arrangements, new deals, perhaps even new treaties with India, then surely they first must abide by the old treaties and take back their decision vis-a-vis the IWT," the former foreign minister noted. He said India held the IWT in abeyance after the deterioration in relations between the two countries following the April 22 Pahalgam attack in occupied Kashmir. In retaliation, Pakistan decided that it would exercise the right to hold all bilateral agreements with India, including but not limited to the Simla Agreement, in abeyance. It also announced the closure of the Wagah border and suspension of all trade with New Delhi, among other measures. Bilawal criticised the Indian government, saying it had refused cooperation on terrorism, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's offer for cooperation on investigating the Pahalgam attack, US President Donald Trump's mediation in the current dispute and more dialogue. "All that means there'll be more terrorism, more war, and no peace. The prime minister of India and his government may want to damn his people to this fate. I refuse to damn my people, and I refuse to damn the people of India to this fate, which is why my delegation and I will be traveling from capital to capital with a simple message: We want peace. We need your help," said Bilawal. "Surely, India and Pakistan working together, we can eradicate terrorism from the subcontinent. India and Pakistan working together can create that conducive environment in Kashmir where the people that live there can live there free from oppression, suffocation, and actually see prosperity. India and Pakistan's cooperation obviously would require the waters to flow freely, but it should lead to broader cooperation," Bilawal maintained.
Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Business Recorder
Recommendations for cashless economy
EDITORIAL: An expert committee on cashless economy, with representatives from the public and private sector, proposed enforcing the use of RAAST QR code, by empowering district administrations to accept digital payments at all retail outlets. RAAST created in 2021 is fully owned by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and offers instant, reliable and digital payment services to the public with the objective of promoting the adoption of digital financial services — an objective that would bring greater numbers into the formal economy. QR codes are used to display text to the user, open a webpage on the user's device, add a vCard contact to the user's device (an electronic business card) to open a Uniform Resource Identifier (a string of characters that uniquely identifies an abstract or physical resource like a website, an email or a book) to connect to a wireless network (which requires wider availability of Wi-Fi than exists in Pakistan today). After the launch of RAAST bulk payments, SBP introduced person-to person fund transfers and settlement services with bank customers able to send and receive payments using the bank's mobile services, internet banking or over the counter services. However, use of RAAST would necessitate having a bank account and one would hope that the rather stringent rules for opening an account are relaxed. The proposal envisages RAAST QR codes be mandatorily installed at all government payment points within six months to create digital wallets for all government disbursements. The beneficiaries of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) access their Kafalat quarterly payments through cash cards provided by partner banks. However, there are a significant number of beneficiaries unable to directly withdraw their disbursements due to inability (attributed to illiteracy) to use cards which, in turn, accounts for their engaging others at a fee which, no doubt, prompted the committee to suggest that these payments should be made digitally. One would hope that RAAST QR codes would make the beneficiary easily purchase items on the market though it may take more than the envisaged six months to a year for very small retail outlets especially those in the rural areas to use RAAST QR code. The committee pointed out that merchants charge 1.5 percent on credit cards and one percent on RAAST and with the informal economy estimated at 35 percent, the committee proposed that sales tax must be reduced on digital payments from 18 percent to 5 percent along with a three-year tax audit break for digital transactions. The committee wisely suggested that the government must favour incentives to punishment as the latter has not worked. Be that as it may, the audit break would apply to the upper income earners of the populace while the hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis who operate under the radar and do not have bank accounts may not be able to benefit from this feature of the proposal. The committee also acknowledged that SIM blocking will reduce access to RAAST (in practice for non-filing of income tax returns, issues of expired and/or stolen NICs) and urged the government to make the 4 percent withholding tax adjustable rather than a minimum tax; and remove 10 percent advance tax on filers with non-filers liable to pay 75 percent as it raises costs and capital expenses. And finally, the withholding tax under Section 236 was raised from 10 to 15 percent in the 2021 supplementary finance act which applies to tax filers, the industry points out, though the bulk of telecom clients are non-filers. To conclude, one can support the proposals; however, one would hope that allied reforms pre-date the committee suggestions, including ease of opening bank accounts, and reforming the tax structure by reducing the existing heavy reliance on indirect taxes, which are passed onto consumers, to direct taxes based on the ability to pay principle as well as taking account of the genuine needs of all productive sectors. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
