‘Expectations & resource allocation’ survey launched
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s first-ever public survey specifically designed to measure the mismatch between citizen expectations and public resource allocation, was launched on Monday at a Citizens’ Roundtable in Islamabad, convened by PILDAT Consulting. PILDAT clarified that it facilitated the Citizens’ Roundtable and led stakeholder engagement and communications for the report’s public launch) on…
Pakistan launched its first nationwide public survey on Monday, aimed at measuring the discrepancy between citizens' expectations and the allocation of public resources. The survey, conducted by the Institute for Public Opinion Research (IPOR), involved face-to-face and in-home interviews with 5,155 voting-age citizens between August 23 and September 5, 2026. The survey aimed to provide an unbiased assessment of the concerns of Pakistani citizens nationwide.
The survey revealed that rising electricity and gas prices are the topmost concern for citizens across the country, despite accounting for only 0.1% of the national budget. In contrast, the federal government allocated 42.9% of the budget to debt servicing, which is 400 times more than the healthcare sector, which only received 0.1%. Additionally, 19% of citizens identified rising electricity and gas prices as their primary issue, far surpassing all other challenges faced by the country.
Corruption within the government was also a significant issue, with 18% of respondents reporting that they had personally been asked for a bribe by a government official in the past year. This statistic further underscores Pakistan's poor global corruption ranking. Furthermore, 91% of respondents expressed difficulties in starting or running a business in Pakistan, with taxes being the main obstacle faced.
Unfortunately, no public institution surveyed, including Parliament, the Election Commission, and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), received complete trust from the majority of citizens. The FIA and NAB, on the other hand, recorded the highest levels of public confidence, with 33% and 23% of respondents expressing complete trust, respectively.
Notably, the levels of trust in Parliament and the Revenue Department were significantly lower, at 15% and 13%, respectively. Mamoon Bilal, Executive Director of PILDAT Consulting, delivered the opening remarks, while Mr. Tariq Junaid, Executive Director of IPOR, presented a detailed explanation of the survey's methodology and results.
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