FBS perceptions survey: Don ask them why!

The Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) has validated fears that the governments restricted fiscal space has severely hampered its ability to provide basic services such as education, healthcare and sanitation. The Pakistan Social and Living Standard Measurement Survey, 2010-11, published by FBS reveals just how far behind Pakistan lags in the race to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, mutually agreed by members of SAARC. The survey also provides some insights to peoples perceptions about government policies and its ability to cater to the basic necessities of the population, such as education, healthcare, sanitation, etc. The data reveal that individuals perceptions about the overall economic situation of the country have been worsened considerably since last year. According to the survey, 43 percent of the respondents believe that their own economic situation is worse or much worse in 2010-11 compared to 2008-09 when this proportion stood at 33 percent. People who thought that their conditions are better or much better in 2010-11 thinned to a paltry 16 percent compared to the already dismal level of 22 percent in 2008-09. When asked about the economic condition of the community as a whole, 29 percent of the respondents reported worse or much worse conditions in 2010-11 as compared to 19 percent in 2008-09. Economic conditions of individuals and households are intrinsically dependent upon the state of the countrys businesses. In this context, a comparative analysis of the survey conducted by FBS and the latest business confidence survey published by the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI); provides insights to the factors behind the lack of confidence expressed by respondents to the former study. OICCIs business confidence index fell from 6 percent in the May-June 2010 period to -24 percent in the Jan-March 2011 period. But, unlike the vague responses gathered by the FBS, the business confidence survey reveals the leading factors behind the dilapidated economic outlooks of local businesses. Twenty-nine percent of the respondents of the OICCI survey considered poor governance to be the main culprit behind low business confidence while other leading factors included inflation, corruption, power crises and the poor state of law and order in the country. FBS has now conducted this survey six times. Yet it has failed to expand the scope of its findings or to trace factors behind the consistently declining levels of satisfaction among its respondents. For starters, the bureau should consider incorporating the perceptions of businesses in terms of the provision of basic amenities and utilities. It may also take a leaf from the Chambers survey and include queries that probe respondents for a clearer explanation of the factors behind their perceptions about the overall economic situation.