Responding to the economic consequences of COVID 19 in Pakistan: lessons learnt

This paper discusses the impact of COVID-19 on production and trade in Pakistan. The paper finds that Pakistan’s outbreak preparedness and response has been a success story, but there are still some gaps that need to be addressed in order to better prepare for future crises. We recommend that the policy makers: conduct frequent structured dialogues with small firms to better understand the type and magnitude of unanticipated costs that increase during health crises; regularly source information to determine if the design of fiscal support is benefiting the beneficiaries; convene dialogues with businesses (which should include labour groups) to address the stringency of temporary trade measures; support smaller firms for adoption of online technologies; expedite the implementation of e-commerce policy, information security policy, and personal data protection law; and cut down business and trade costs during crisis through a more liberal tariff policy and rationalization of regulatory burden on firms.