LAHORE: The Punjab Planning and Development (P&D) Board has assessed that 11.2 million people may lose their jobs if the provincial government imposed a complete lockdown to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
During a high-level conference, the board informed its international development partners that unemployment on account of a complete lockdown could increase by 18.65 million across the country and by 11.2 million in Punjab alone.
The meeting, which was held to assess economic losses and unemployment, coronavirus risk management, development priorities, and other issues, was attended by representatives of Punjab P&D Board, World Bank (WB), GIZ Pakistan, Department for International Development (DID), World Health Organisation (WHO), Asian Development Bank (ABD), European Union (EU), USAID, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Australian Aid.
Citing the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics’ (PIDE) assessment, the board informed its partners that if the government imposes a partial lockdown, the province could face a loss of $900 million, whereas in case of a moderate lockdown, it would be $7.4 billion and in case of a complete lockdown, it would be $14.8 billion. The board added that the average estimated loss varies between $500 million to $8.1 billion.
Similarly, a partial lockdown would render 3.1 million unemployed across the country and 1.8 million in Punjab alone, whereas a moderate lockdown would lead take numbers up to 15.54 and 9.4, respectively, and a complete lockdown would take these numbers as high as 18.65 million and 11.2 million.
The meeting also reviewed the economic stimulus, health and social protection strategies developed by P&D board as a part of economic stabilisation and bailout plan for COVID-19.
