The average Pakistani is more optimistic about the country’s economic outlook than in the previous year. That was the main takeaway from the annual survey carried out on Dawn.com. About half of the 900 survey respondents expect 2025 to be a good year, up from 40pc last year.

Roughly 40pc of the respondents are painting a picture of a rosier tomorrow. This correlates with four out of 10 believing that family wealth will increase in 2025, with roughly half of the respondents expecting their income to rise. Similarly, four out of 10 expect an increase in the number of jobs available, and four out of 10 plan to emigrate.

However, the gains and positive expectations remain limited to the middle-income and elite groups. Only one out of 10 respondents expect 2025 to be a better year for the poor, with half expecting all expenses to increase next year.

Politically, the masses expect stability. Eight out of 10 believe that the government will stay in power. The people’s predictions for 2023 were the most dire with nearly 75pc of the respondents expecting 2023 to be a bad year. Recovering from the pandemic, the country had been dealing with the aftermath of the floods, intense political turmoil and floating precariously towards bankruptcy. At that time, the masses expected the economy to deteriorate, with the country unable to build after the floods.

Since then, stabilising the macroeconomy and the semblance of political continuity under the IMF programme has revived optimism.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, December 30th, 2024