₨1.3 Trillion on Subsidies - But Who Really Benefits? Can an All-in-One BISP do better?

Every year, Pakistan spends over ₨1.3 trillion on subsidies for fuel, electricity, wheat, and fertilizer — that’s more than the budgets of health, education, and defence combined. But much of this support ends up helping the rich more than the poor.\ 🔌 Fuel subsidies? 55% go to the richest households. ⚡ Electricity subsidies? Loopholes let mid-income families benefit more. 🌾 Agri subsidies? Mostly captured by large landlords. At the same time, BISP runs on just ₨250 billion, but reaches 9 million low-income families with direct, verified cash. So what if we flipped the system? Instead of blanket subsidies, what if Pakistan built a unified digital platform for direct, accountable support? 🔍 This episode Junaid discuss: 1️⃣ What BISP gets right — and where it still falls short 2️⃣ How fraud, outdated data, and exclusion hurt the current system 3️⃣ Global lessons from Brazil, India & Kenya on digital cash transfers 4️⃣ How Pakistan could merge all subsidies into one digital platform 5️⃣ What wallets, Raast, and skill-building tools could unlock for families 🎥 Thank you to Jazz for supporting Pakistan & Counting. Follow Pakistan & Counting on: X: https://x.com/PakAndCounting FB: https://www.facebook.com/PakistanAndCounting IG: https://www.instagram.com/pakistanandcounting/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pakistanandcounting?_t=8rbVjlJIYOw&_r=1 LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pakistan-and-counting/ 🔔 Subscribe & hit the bell so you don’t miss the next episode. #PakistanAndCounting #JunaidIqbal #BISP #SubsidyReform #JazzCash #CashTransfers #SmartWelfare #DigitalPakistan #PovertyPolicy #pakistanbudget #foryou