Pakistan economic performance assessment

The report draws on a variety of international data sources and uses international benchmarking against reference group averages, comparator countries, and statistical norms to identify constraints, trends, and opportunities for fostering rapid growth and reducing poverty. For Pakistan, the group benchmarks include the global median values for lower-middle-income (LMI) countries and the median values for lower-middle-income countries in Asia (LMI-Asia). The study uses India and Turkey as direct comparators. India is an obvious basis for reference, being a giant neighbor with a similar income level and a record of strong, sustained growth. Turkey provides an aspiration case as a large, Muslim-majority, upper-middle-income country that has achieved a higher level of prosperity despite internal-conflict problems and periods of political uncertainty. (Author abstract, modified)