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Untersuchte Arbeit: Seite: 52, Zeilen: 1 ff. (complete page) |
Quelle: Pakistan Economic Survey 2004-2005 Seite(n): 150, 151-152, Zeilen: 150: 5-11, 151: 3-5.8-10.21-26.27-31.39-40 - 152: 3-8.12-19 |
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Furthermore, the overall unemployment rate has declined from 8.3 percent in 2001-02 to 7.7 percent in 2003-04, due to mainly steeper decline in women’s unemployment visà-vis that of men. Taking into account the decline in female unemployment in both rural and urban areas it can be said that this decline could be due to two reasons; females were able to get job opportunities or they withdrew from the labour force mainly because of “discourage phenomenon”. But female participation in the labour force has increased considerably over the last few years thus it appears that female unemployment reduced primarily due to expansion in job opportunities for females. Microfinance facilities, with some other governmental strategies,36 focusing on women particularly in [rural areas could be the major contributing factor for reduction in female unemployment rate.]
36 The Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the current fiscal year 2004-05 has been increased to Rs. 202 billion, a 26 percent increase over last year’s PSDP of Rs 160 billion. Employer-led Skill Development Councils developed by Ministry of Labour Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis, have been established in all provinces to identify needs of geographical area, prioritize them on market demand and to facilitate the training of workers through training providers in public and private sectors. As a result of developmental efforts of the government, GDP growth rate has started picking up. It was 5.1 percent in 2002-03, increased to 6.4 percent in 2003-04 and is around 7 percent in 2004-05. On the other hand, the population growth rate, which was 1.99 percent in 2003-04, has declined to 1.9 percent in 2004-05. Both the parameters have helped to make dent in the unemployment situation as result of which the unemployment rate has declined from 8.3 percent in 2001-02 to 7.7 percent in 2003-04. Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) represent a signifying component of Pakistan’s economy in terms of value. They are highly labour intensive and provide employment to the bulk of the non-agricultural labour force. Realizing this constraint the government has opened two specialized non-credit banks namely, the SME Bank and Khushali Bank. The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) is also actively developing programmes for managerial skill development and technical and informative support to the SMEs. Realizing the importance of microfinance in improving the lives of the poor people, the government has established Khushhali Bank in 2000 – a microfinance institution – under a public-private partnership program. In the next five years the outreach will increase to three million households. The Khushhali Bank alone has so far disbursed Rs.4.5 billion and nearly 33 percent of its clients are women. The services of these institutions will be the most effective instruments in improving the lives of the poor people in both urban and rural areas. The housing and construction sector provides substantial additional employment opportunities as it contributes through a higher multiplier effect with a host of beneficial forward and backward linkages in the economy. Many national and international real estate developers have launched or are launching large construction projects in Pakistan, which has further accelerated construction activity in the country. Pakistan Poverty Alleviating Fund (PPAF) was set up in April 2000 with an endowment of $ 100 million, as a wholesale lender to NGOs engaged in providing micro financing. PPAF, as of 31st Dec 2004, is present in 94 districts across Pakistan. Whereas, it has 52 partner organizations. So far it has made disbursements of Rs. 8.2 billion and it has around 7 million beneficiaries. The government has so far spent one thousand billion rupees on pro-poor sectors in the last five years (FBS, Labor Force Survey 2003-2004). |
[page 150]
The table reveals that overall unemployment rate has declined from 8.3 percent in 2001-02 to 7.7 percent in 2003-04, due mainly to steeper decline in women’s unemployment vis-à-vis that of men. First take the decline in female unemployment in both rural and urban areas. This decline could be due to two reasons; females were able to get job opportunities or they withdrew from the labour force mainly because of “discourage phenomenon”. But female participation in the labour force has increased considerably over the last few years thus it appears that female unemployment reduced primarily due to expansion in job opportunities for females. Microfinance facilities focusing on women particularly in rural areas could be the major contributing factor for reduction in female unemployment rate. [page 151] Employment Promotion Policies The Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the current fiscal year 2004-05 has been increased to Rs. 202 billion, a 26 percent increase over last year’s PSDP of Rs 160 billion. [...] Employer-led Skill Development Councils developed by Ministry of Labour Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis, have been established in all provinces to identify needs of geographical area, prioritise them on market demand and to facilitate the training of workers through training providers in public and private sectors. [...] [...] As a result of developmental efforts of the government, GDP growth rate has started picking up. It was 5.1 percent in 2002-03, increased to 604 percent in 2003-04 and is around 7 percent in 2004-05. On the other hand, the population growth rate, which was 1.99 percent in 2003-04, has declined to 1.9 percent in 2004-05. Both the parameters have helped to make dent in the unemployment situation as result of which the unemployment rate has declined from 8.3 percent in 2001-02 to 7.7 percent in 2003-04. Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) represents a signifying component of Pakistan’s economy in terms of value. They are highly labour intensive and provide employment to the bulk of the non-agricultural labour force. [...] Realizing this constraint the government has opened two specialized non-credit banks namely, the SME Bank and Khushali Bank. The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) is also actively developing programmes for managerial skill development and technical and informative support to the SMEs. [...] Realizing the importance of microfinance in improving the lives of the poor people, the government has established Khushhali Bank in 2000 – a microfinance institution – under a public-private partnership program. [...] [page 152] [...] In the next five years the outreach will increase to three million households. The Khushhali Bank alone has so far disbursed Rs.4.5 billion and nearly 33 percent of its clients are women. The services of these institutions will be the most effective instruments in improving the lives of the poor people in both urban and rural areas. The housing and construction sector provide substantial additional employment opportunities as it contributes through a higher multiplier effect with a host of beneficial forward and backward linkages in the economy. [...] Many national and international real estate developers have launched or launching large construction projects in Pakistan, which has further accelerated construction activity in the country. Pakistan Poverty Alleviating Fund (PPAF) was set up in April 2000 with an endowment of $ 100 million, as a wholesale lender to NGOs engaged in providing micro financing. PPAF, as of 31st Dec 2004, is present in 94 districts across Pakistan. Whereas, it has 52 partner organizations. So far it has made disbursements of Rs. 8.2 billion and it has around 7 million beneficiaries. The government has so far spent one thousand billion rupees on pro-poor sectors in the last five years. |
Af mentions a source at the very end of the footnote (see in particular comments on this reference in Pakistan Economic Survey 2004-2005), but the text is from a different, related source. Nevertheless, nothing has been marked as a citation although the text has been taken verbatim from the source. |
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