ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar has directed the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) to use the expertise of the World Bank and make assessment of its processes with a view to fill any existing gaps.
The minister made these remarks in a meeting with a World Bank team led by Country Director Patchamuthu Illangovan and senior officials of the Statistics Division. During the meeting, Dar said that the incumbent government had boldly taken on various economic reforms and the process will continue in the future as well.
Quoting the example of introduction of the Cost of Basic Needs (CBN) method of estimating poverty, the minister said that it was need of the time and the government took a bold step in adopting the new methodology. He said that the government would follow a similar approach and continue to improve the processes and practices in the public sector, in line with international best practices.
The meeting discussed the mechanism and methodologies in place in the country for data gathering and compilation. The chief statistician briefed the meeting on the existing data gathering mechanism and informed that the PBS has an elaborate set up which is updated from time to time in collaboration with international development partners, with a view to adopt international best practices.
