Virus outbreak urges quick deal for lower income classes.

Byline: Khalil Ahmed

Enough credit should be provided to the micro financing activities

Interview with Dr. Ayub Mehar - a renowned economist

PAGE: Tell me something about yourself and your organization, please:

Dr. Ayub Mehar: I am serving as 'Professor' in Iqra University Karachi and also 'Economic Advisor' of the Employers' Federation of Pakistan. Currently, I am also associated with the Asian Development Bank Institute on a project for Infrastructure Financing in CAREC member countries. Development Financing, Macroeconomic Policies, International Trade and Finance and Economic and Financial Modeling are areas of my research interests.

I have completed several policy research studies for international financial institutions and think tanks including 'Economic Integration in CAREC Member Countries: Financing Economic Corridors and Sovereign Bonds Market', 'Ineffectiveness of Environmental, Social, and Governance Policies and Incentives: Impact of Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus on Central Asian and South Asian Countries', 'Impacts of the Patterns of Financing on Logistic Infrastructure in CAREC Member Countries', 'Impacts and Financing Infrastructure Development in Pakistan: Role of CPEC and FDI', 'Infrastructure Development by Liberalizing Economic Policies: The Straight Path of Economic Prosperity', 'Financial Cooperation in South Asia: Recent Development and Challenges', 'Political Economy of Subsidies', 'Magnitude and Determinants of the Flows of Investment among South Asian Countries: Considering Economic Prosperity without Politics' and 'South Asia in New Economic Order: Need of Accelerated Liberalization Process'.

In recognition of my expertise, the Technology Policy and Assessment Center at Georgia Institute of Technology acknowledged its membership in the distinguished panel of international experts for Indicators of Technology-based Competitiveness, which is a project of the US National Science Foundation, United States Government.

PAGE: What are your views on the level of poverty in Pakistan?

Dr. Ayub Mehar: Though poverty estimates assessed by various institutions and think tanks describe different pictures of the level of poverty in Pakistan depending the source of their data and definitions of poverty. However, in the light of recent speech delivered by the Prime Minister Imran Khan on talking the strategies to combat the effects of coronavirus, 25 percent population of Pakistan lives at below the poverty line.

It is a...