Project Team: John Grey, Nohman Ishtiaq, Vaqar Ahmed, Shujaat Ahmed
Partners: Government of Sindh, European Union Office, Oxford Policy Management
Time Frame: November 2016 – February 2017
Locale: Bureau of Statistics, Government of Sindh
Project summary:
This project was commissioned to support the Public Financial Management Programme which among other functions is evaluating how better regional income statistics for Sindh province can be formulated by the relevant statistics authorities in Pakistan (e.g. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics or Sindh Bureau of Statistics). The availability of regionally disaggregated GDP will enhance the information available to formulate an evidence-based Budget Strategy Paper and Annual Development Plan for Government of Sindh.
As part of our methodology to draft recommendations we familiarized ourselves with the current status of collection and compilation (if any) of Sindh regional incomes through consultations with Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) and provincial bureaus of statistics. Meetings were also held in Karachi to engage with Planning and Development Department and Sindh Bureau of Statistics to understand the likely scope, availability and timing of micro, meso or macro-level economic statistics expected to be generated under the on-going ‘Preparation of GDP for Province of Sindh’ project. This project has been approved by the Planning Commission, Government of Pakistan through a modified PC-I. During the process we also studied previous efforts by independent experts and development partners – who had previously generated Sindh’s regional income accounts as a one-off exercise.
Our recommendations in current form provide options for disaggregated data sources on macroeconomic indicators which can strengthen budget strategy paper’s preparation in Sindh, and also augment the process of preparation of regional income accounts at the Sindh Bureau of Statistics.
