The General Sales Tax has the largest marginal contribution to the rise of poverty while a monthly cash transfer programme to the poorest families has the largest positive impact on inequality reduction in Pakistan, a World Bank study has said.
‘The Effects of Taxes and Transfers on Inequality and Poverty in Pakistan’ reports that the General Sales Tax (GST) payments account for over 7 per cent households’ pre-tax expenditure, which leads to further impoverishment among poor and vulnerable households.
Dawn reported on Sunday quoting the World Bank (WB) study that estimations of the marginal contributions of individual fiscal instruments — or the additional impact that individual fiscal instruments have on poverty or inequality when all other fiscal instruments are included — demonstrate that GST has the largest marginal contribution to the national poverty increase. PTI
